A Point of Viewhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qng8A weekly reflection on a topical issueA weekly reflection on a topical issueBBC Radio 4BBCRadioMusic.Support@bbc.co.ukenhttp://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p04473j0.jpgA Point of Viewhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qng8(C) BBC 2016Fri, 02 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000nononadultBob Dylan and the BobolatersAdam Gopnik - a lifelong fan of Bob Dylan - muses on Dylan's "utterly predictable lack of gratitude" towards his Nobel Prize.
"The terrible and intriguing truth", he writes, is that "people are tragically impressed by indifference...and pitifully contemptuous of the charming".
The Dylans of this world, Gopnik says "impress us as the true egotists we secretly are".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik reflects on Bob Dylan's predictable lack of gratitude towards his Nobel Prize.Adam Gopnik - a lifelong fan of Bob Dylan - muses on Dylan's "utterly predictable lack of gratitude" towards his Nobel Prize.
"The terrible and intriguing truth", he writes, is that "people are tragically impressed by indifference...and pitifully contemptuous of the charming".
The Dylans of this world, Gopnik says "impress us as the true egotists we secretly are".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 02 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000596urn:bbc:podcast:b083r9xhhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083r9xhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b083r9xhA Liberal CredoAdam Gopnik muses on liberals and liberalism - and why liberalism is so despised.
"At a moment when it seems likely to be drowned out in America" he writes, "I shall make a small forlorn effort to speak its truths".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik muses on liberals and liberalism.Adam Gopnik muses on liberals and liberalism - and why liberalism is so despised.
"At a moment when it seems likely to be drowned out in America" he writes, "I shall make a small forlorn effort to speak its truths".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 25 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000587urn:bbc:podcast:b08349f8http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08349f8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b08349f8The Week Gone ByAdam Gopnik asks what hope is there of a liberal, open society in America during the next 4 years.
He argues that Americans must hold to the faith that liberal politics really do rise from the ground up.Adam Gopnik asks how America can preserve a liberal, open society.Adam Gopnik asks what hope is there of a liberal, open society in America during the next 4 years.
He argues that Americans must hold to the faith that liberal politics really do rise from the ground up.Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000598urn:bbc:podcast:b082kmwshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082kmwscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b082kmwsThe Trump CardRoger Scruton assesses some of the reasons behind Donald Trump's victory.
And he asks why many who intended to vote for Donald Trump would not have confessed to their intention.
"They wanted change," writes Scruton. "A change in the whole agenda of government".Roger Scruton assesses some of the reasons behind Donald Trump's victory.Roger Scruton assesses some of the reasons behind Donald Trump's victory.
And he asks why many who intended to vote for Donald Trump would not have confessed to their intention.
"They wanted change," writes Scruton. "A change in the whole agenda of government".Fri, 11 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000598urn:bbc:podcast:b081tkmchttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081tkmccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b081tkmcAmerica VotesAdam Gopnik reflects on why he believes a victory for Donald Trump would be a disaster for America.
The American Presidential election "posits a simple eternal human confrontation between sensible and crazy", he writes.
He says we must not pretend that the rise of Trump is essentially a "people's revolt" or a movement of the dispossessed.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik reflects on why he believes a Trump victory would be a disaster for America.Adam Gopnik reflects on why he believes a victory for Donald Trump would be a disaster for America.
The American Presidential election "posits a simple eternal human confrontation between sensible and crazy", he writes.
He says we must not pretend that the rise of Trump is essentially a "people's revolt" or a movement of the dispossessed.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000583urn:bbc:podcast:b080xx1rhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080xx1rcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b080xx1rIn Praise of Prophets of DoomHoward Jacobson argues that dissatisfaction with life is essential for the health of the human spirit.
"It might come to outweigh other emotions to the point where it is detrimental to the vigour of an individual or a society, but without it there is no vigour at all."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson argues that dissatisfaction with life is essential.Howard Jacobson argues that dissatisfaction with life is essential for the health of the human spirit.
"It might come to outweigh other emotions to the point where it is detrimental to the vigour of an individual or a society, but without it there is no vigour at all."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 28 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000606urn:bbc:podcast:b0801p3yhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801p3ycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0801p3yShylock's Mock AppealHoward Jacobson applauds the granting of an appeal by Shylock in a mock trial in Venice as a symbolic revoking of a bad decision in Shakespeare's play.
"It's natural to rage against wrong decisions, miscarrriages of justice or the inclemencies of nature, but the more fanciful of us go further and imagine that some power will intervene and make things right again."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson applauds the granting of an appeal by Shylock in a mock trial in Venice.Howard Jacobson applauds the granting of an appeal by Shylock in a mock trial in Venice as a symbolic revoking of a bad decision in Shakespeare's play.
"It's natural to rage against wrong decisions, miscarrriages of justice or the inclemencies of nature, but the more fanciful of us go further and imagine that some power will intervene and make things right again."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000605urn:bbc:podcast:b07z7d5mhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z7d5mcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07z7d5mIn Praise of DifficultyHoward Jacobson applauds the playwright Tom Stoppard's attack on the ignorance of the average audience, arguing we should not only aspire to be educated ourselves but should not be offended by the evidence of education in others.
"We are an entangled species; we are not to be unknotted easily. When we turn our backs on difficulty in art, we turn our backs on who we are."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson applauds Tom Stoppard's attack on the ignorance of the average audience.Howard Jacobson applauds the playwright Tom Stoppard's attack on the ignorance of the average audience, arguing we should not only aspire to be educated ourselves but should not be offended by the evidence of education in others.
"We are an entangled species; we are not to be unknotted easily. When we turn our backs on difficulty in art, we turn our backs on who we are."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b07yszwwhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07yszwwcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07yszwwWhoop!Howard Jacobson deplores the fashion for "whooping" as a mark of approval, and sees it as a species of social blackmail.
"The whoop is on an errand to keep things simple. That which strikes audiences as true because it is what they think already, elicits a whoop."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson deplores the fashion for 'whooping' as a mark of approval.Howard Jacobson deplores the fashion for "whooping" as a mark of approval, and sees it as a species of social blackmail.
"The whoop is on an errand to keep things simple. That which strikes audiences as true because it is what they think already, elicits a whoop."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000602urn:bbc:podcast:b07x1dndhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x1dndcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07x1dndAgainst Safe SpacesJohn Gray reflects on the controversial "safe spaces" policy being pursued by some universities.
It may have been devised to ensure that people of all identities are entitled to a tolerant environment ...but John Gray argues that the policy not only threatens a fundamental liberal value but represents a demand to be sheltered from human reality.
He says the point of education used to be to learn how to live well in full awareness of the disorder of life. "A lack of realism ...was considered not just an intellectual failing but also a moral flaw".
He says we ignore this lesson of history at our peril.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray reflects on the controversial 'space spaces' policy in universities.John Gray reflects on the controversial "safe spaces" policy being pursued by some universities.
It may have been devised to ensure that people of all identities are entitled to a tolerant environment ...but John Gray argues that the policy not only threatens a fundamental liberal value but represents a demand to be sheltered from human reality.
He says the point of education used to be to learn how to live well in full awareness of the disorder of life. "A lack of realism ...was considered not just an intellectual failing but also a moral flaw".
He says we ignore this lesson of history at our peril.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 30 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000542urn:bbc:podcast:b07wm6k0http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wm6k0cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07wm6k0The Real Meaning of TrumpJohn Gray assesses what lies behind the Trump phenomenon and the remarkable political upheaval that could - possibly - see Donald Trump propelled into the White House.
From the start, he says, Trump's campaign has been an audacious experiment in mass persuasion. "His uncouth language, megalomaniac self-admiration and strangely coloured hair....all deliberately cultivated" to help him profit from the popular resentment against the elites of the main parties.
"Whatever happens", writes Gray, "there will be no return to pre-Trump normalcy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray assesses what lies behind the Trump phenomenon.John Gray assesses what lies behind the Trump phenomenon and the remarkable political upheaval that could - possibly - see Donald Trump propelled into the White House.
From the start, he says, Trump's campaign has been an audacious experiment in mass persuasion. "His uncouth language, megalomaniac self-admiration and strangely coloured hair....all deliberately cultivated" to help him profit from the popular resentment against the elites of the main parties.
"Whatever happens", writes Gray, "there will be no return to pre-Trump normalcy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000570urn:bbc:podcast:b07vwr08http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vwr08cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07vwr08Who Cares About Independence?Wheelchair user, Tom Shakespeare, reflects on what it feels like to be dependent on others.
He says care often leaves the recipient in a devalued state.
He calls for society to respond to the challenge of delivering help "without creating domination and infantilisation" and for care to be funded properly.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Wheelchair user, Tom Shakespeare, on what it feels like to be dependent on others.Wheelchair user, Tom Shakespeare, reflects on what it feels like to be dependent on others.
He says care often leaves the recipient in a devalued state.
He calls for society to respond to the challenge of delivering help "without creating domination and infantilisation" and for care to be funded properly.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000562urn:bbc:podcast:b07v36kshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07v36kscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07v36ksMy Idea of HeavenJohn Gray muses on what his idea of heaven is....and why it shouldn't be a perfect world.
History teaches us that trying to create a perfect society leads to hell on earth, he writes.
"But dreams of a perfect world don't fail because human beings are incurably flawed. They fail because human beings are more complicated and interesting that their dreams of perfection".John Gray muses on what his idea of heaven is - and why it shouldn't be a perfect world.John Gray muses on what his idea of heaven is....and why it shouldn't be a perfect world.
History teaches us that trying to create a perfect society leads to hell on earth, he writes.
"But dreams of a perfect world don't fail because human beings are incurably flawed. They fail because human beings are more complicated and interesting that their dreams of perfection".Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000552urn:bbc:podcast:b07tmqpjhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07tmqpjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07tmqpjEvery Dog Has His DayTom Shakespeare - a new dog owner - reflects on what dogs can teach us about contentment.
Remembering his childhood obsession with the Peanuts cartoon, he quotes Snoopy "My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm Happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?"
Dogs, writes Tom, have a much greater capacity for contentment than people and we can all learn from this.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Tom Shakespeare reflects on how dogs can teach us a capacity for contentment.Tom Shakespeare - a new dog owner - reflects on what dogs can teach us about contentment.
Remembering his childhood obsession with the Peanuts cartoon, he quotes Snoopy "My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm Happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?"
Dogs, writes Tom, have a much greater capacity for contentment than people and we can all learn from this.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 26 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000580urn:bbc:podcast:b07pjn8zhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07pjn8zcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07pjn8zFinding Our RootsWill Self reflects on the joys of genealogy - truffling in census returns and parish records and establishing "our genuine links to multiple generations of nonentities"!
"As a passionate Londoner", he writes, "I wanted to establish when the first Self had arrived in the city".
Entire family sagas, he says, are today vanishing into thin air, in an era of nuclear families. Gone are those generations of extended families where over a cup of tea, the same old stories were told about the same old relatives.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self reflects on the joys of genealogy.Will Self reflects on the joys of genealogy - truffling in census returns and parish records and establishing "our genuine links to multiple generations of nonentities"!
"As a passionate Londoner", he writes, "I wanted to establish when the first Self had arrived in the city".
Entire family sagas, he says, are today vanishing into thin air, in an era of nuclear families. Gone are those generations of extended families where over a cup of tea, the same old stories were told about the same old relatives.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000587urn:bbc:podcast:b07ns0r9http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ns0r9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07ns0r9What's wrong with modern art?Will Self explores what's wrong with modern art.
"I've been responsible for a fair amount of absolutely total nonsense in my time", he writes, but says most contemporary art is little more than "overvalued tosh and useless ephemera".
Instead of a world where Russian oligarchs "buy artworks by the metric tonne and plaster them on the walls of their vulgar houses", he calls for a genuine understanding of art where - once again - we become "capable of conveying and explaining the subtle ambiguities of genuine art".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self explores what is wrong with contemporary art.Will Self explores what's wrong with modern art.
"I've been responsible for a fair amount of absolutely total nonsense in my time", he writes, but says most contemporary art is little more than "overvalued tosh and useless ephemera".
Instead of a world where Russian oligarchs "buy artworks by the metric tonne and plaster them on the walls of their vulgar houses", he calls for a genuine understanding of art where - once again - we become "capable of conveying and explaining the subtle ambiguities of genuine art".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 12 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000584urn:bbc:podcast:b07mz0hvhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mz0hvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07mz0hvAct Your AgeWill Self explains why he finds it hard to always act his age.
"To alternate between being an errant child and a corrective adult must, I think, be intrinsic to the human condition."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self explains why he finds it hard to always act his age.Will Self explains why he finds it hard to always act his age.
"To alternate between being an errant child and a corrective adult must, I think, be intrinsic to the human condition."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000581urn:bbc:podcast:b07m7z2shttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m7z2scleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07m7z2sCanaries in the Coal MineTom Shakespeare gives a very personal view of the implications for society of a prenatal screening technology due to be announced shortly.
Tom inherited the genetic condition, achondroplasia, or restricted growth from his father and passed it on to both his children.
Soon we will have to decide, he writes, what sort of people we are prepared to accept in our families and in our society.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Tom Shakespeare gives a very personal view of prenatal screening.Tom Shakespeare gives a very personal view of the implications for society of a prenatal screening technology due to be announced shortly.
Tom inherited the genetic condition, achondroplasia, or restricted growth from his father and passed it on to both his children.
Soon we will have to decide, he writes, what sort of people we are prepared to accept in our families and in our society.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000588urn:bbc:podcast:b07lj6yphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lj6ypcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07lj6ypBeing EnglishVia steak and kidney pie and a spot of Morris dancing, AL Kennedy reflects on Englishness...at a time, she writes, "when Englishness is struggling to decide what it can be".
She appeals to England - with all its different views, customs, history and opinions - to "treasure yourself, all of yourself".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The writer AL Kennedy reflects on Englishness.Via steak and kidney pie and a spot of Morris dancing, AL Kennedy reflects on Englishness...at a time, she writes, "when Englishness is struggling to decide what it can be".
She appeals to England - with all its different views, customs, history and opinions - to "treasure yourself, all of yourself".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 22 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000600urn:bbc:podcast:b07ks4m8http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ks4m8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07ks4m8Facts Not OpinionsAL Kennedy ponders the importance of facts... in a world dominated by opinion.
"The Chilcot report highlights how a war can conjure the demons it promised to suppress", she writes "because facts were dodged or massaged and fantasy outcomes were taken as certainties".
While facts may be grim, "avoiding them puts us all at increased risk".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy ponders the importance of facts, in a world dominated by opinion.AL Kennedy ponders the importance of facts... in a world dominated by opinion.
"The Chilcot report highlights how a war can conjure the demons it promised to suppress", she writes "because facts were dodged or massaged and fantasy outcomes were taken as certainties".
While facts may be grim, "avoiding them puts us all at increased risk".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 15 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000595urn:bbc:podcast:b07k0m80http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07k0m80cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07k0m80Brexit and our cultural identityThe historian Mary Beard presents the last in the series in which some of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit".
Mary Beard asks whether the referendum result will change our cultural identity.
And as she sits at a David Gilmour concert in the ancient amphitheatre at Pompeii, Mary reflects on the "New Europe that we British seem to be about to lose".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The historian Mary Beard reflects on whether Brexit will change our cultural identity.The historian Mary Beard presents the last in the series in which some of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit".
Mary Beard asks whether the referendum result will change our cultural identity.
And as she sits at a David Gilmour concert in the ancient amphitheatre at Pompeii, Mary reflects on the "New Europe that we British seem to be about to lose".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 15 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000858urn:bbc:podcast:b07lpfdjhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lpfdjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07lpfdjStrategic ShiftPeter Hennessy sees the UK's vote to leave the European Union as the biggest strategic shift in British history since the Second World War, rivalled only by the disposal of the British Empire. As a consequence, we need a serious national conversation using a new political vocabulary to tackle "multiple and overlapping anxieties".
"If we do hold that national conversation, rise to the level of events and draw on those wells of civility and tolerance, we may yet surprise ourselves - and the watching world - by the quality, the care and the foresight of what we do and what we say."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Peter Hennessy sees the UK's vote to leave the EU as a profound strategic shift.Peter Hennessy sees the UK's vote to leave the European Union as the biggest strategic shift in British history since the Second World War, rivalled only by the disposal of the British Empire. As a consequence, we need a serious national conversation using a new political vocabulary to tackle "multiple and overlapping anxieties".
"If we do hold that national conversation, rise to the level of events and draw on those wells of civility and tolerance, we may yet surprise ourselves - and the watching world - by the quality, the care and the foresight of what we do and what we say."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Thu, 14 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000837urn:bbc:podcast:b07lg2xjhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lg2xjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07lg2xjDemocracy After BrexitIn these special editions of A Point of View, five of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Today, the philosopher Roger Scruton reflects on democracy after Brexit and explains why he feels it is the ordinary people of this country who care about democracy, not the urban elites.
"The referendum gave these people a voice", writes Scruton, "and what they have told us is that their country, its laws and its sovereignty are more important to them than the edicts of anonymous bureaucrats striving to rule from nowhere".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The philosopher Roger Scruton reflects on democracy after Brexit.In these special editions of A Point of View, five of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Today, the philosopher Roger Scruton reflects on democracy after Brexit and explains why he feels it is the ordinary people of this country who care about democracy, not the urban elites.
"The referendum gave these people a voice", writes Scruton, "and what they have told us is that their country, its laws and its sovereignty are more important to them than the edicts of anonymous bureaucrats striving to rule from nowhere".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000846urn:bbc:podcast:b07ldrbkhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ldrbkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07ldrbkBritain, Europe and the WorldIn these special editions of Radio 4's long-running essay programme, A Point of View, five of Britain's leading thinkers, give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Today, the philosopher John Gray who has presented on Radio 4 for many years, argues that Britain should look to Brexit as a new beginning in which it "can throw off the dead weight of a failing European project".
He says we should now accept the new opportunities given to us and "make our home in a more spacious world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The philosopher John Gray argues that Britain should look to Brexit as a new beginning.In these special editions of Radio 4's long-running essay programme, A Point of View, five of Britain's leading thinkers, give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Today, the philosopher John Gray who has presented on Radio 4 for many years, argues that Britain should look to Brexit as a new beginning in which it "can throw off the dead weight of a failing European project".
He says we should now accept the new opportunities given to us and "make our home in a more spacious world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Tue, 12 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000817urn:bbc:podcast:b07l5y3dhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07l5y3dcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07l5y3dOnora O'NeillThe philosopher Onora O'Neill criticises the standard of public debate on both sides of the European Union decision and asks how this democratic deficit can be repaired.
"The disarray that we now witness, and the retractions, revelations and recriminations that spill out on a daily basis, show that large parts of each campaign failed to communicate with the public, did not offer adequate or honest accounts of the alternatives, and did not provide the basic means for voters to judge the real options, the real opportunities or the real risks."
This is the first of a series of special editions of Radio 4's long-running essay programme, A Point of View, in which five of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Onora O'Neill criticises the standard of public debate on both sides of the EU decision.The philosopher Onora O'Neill criticises the standard of public debate on both sides of the European Union decision and asks how this democratic deficit can be repaired.
"The disarray that we now witness, and the retractions, revelations and recriminations that spill out on a daily basis, show that large parts of each campaign failed to communicate with the public, did not offer adequate or honest accounts of the alternatives, and did not provide the basic means for voters to judge the real options, the real opportunities or the real risks."
This is the first of a series of special editions of Radio 4's long-running essay programme, A Point of View, in which five of Britain's leading thinkers give their own very personal view of "Brexit" - what the vote tells us about the country we are, and are likely to become.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Mon, 11 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000861urn:bbc:podcast:b07l24crhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07l24crcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07l24crBelongings"Transitions shake us" writes AL Kennedy. "and you don't need me to tell you that as a nation we're sharing one".
Alison reflects on how disturbing transitional times can be ...and writes of her own personal experience and that happening in post-Brexit Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy reflects on how we can sustain each other through uncertainty."Transitions shake us" writes AL Kennedy. "and you don't need me to tell you that as a nation we're sharing one".
Alison reflects on how disturbing transitional times can be ...and writes of her own personal experience and that happening in post-Brexit Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 08 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000590urn:bbc:podcast:b07j7nvmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j7nvmcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07j7nvmOn BrexitThe philosopher John Gray argues that Brexit will have a greater impact on the EU than it will on the UK. And he predicts the British experience is likely to be repeated across much of continental Europe over the next few years.
But, he says, rather than recriminating about what is past, we should be looking to the future. "We find ourselves in a new world", he writes. "Why not make the best of it?"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray argues that Brexit will have a greater impact on the EU than it will on the UK.The philosopher John Gray argues that Brexit will have a greater impact on the EU than it will on the UK. And he predicts the British experience is likely to be repeated across much of continental Europe over the next few years.
But, he says, rather than recriminating about what is past, we should be looking to the future. "We find ourselves in a new world", he writes. "Why not make the best of it?"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000587urn:bbc:podcast:b07hj8bvhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07hj8bvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07hj8bvThe power of languageAL Kennedy reflects on how being able to communicate clearly is the work of a lifetime. She argues that the present school testing regime could have a catastrophic effect on our children's ability to find their voice.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy reflects on how being able to communicate clearly is the work of a lifetime.AL Kennedy reflects on how being able to communicate clearly is the work of a lifetime. She argues that the present school testing regime could have a catastrophic effect on our children's ability to find their voice.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000598urn:bbc:podcast:b07glx87http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07glx87cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07glx87A Petition Against PetitionsRoger Scruton says the fashion for government by petition is out of step with representative democracy in which representatives are not elected to relay the opinions of their constituents but to represent their interests.
"The common good, rather than mass sentiment, should be the source of law, and the common good may be hard to discover and easily obscured by crowd emotions.".Roger Scruton says government by petition is out of step with representative democracy.Roger Scruton says the fashion for government by petition is out of step with representative democracy in which representatives are not elected to relay the opinions of their constituents but to represent their interests.
"The common good, rather than mass sentiment, should be the source of law, and the common good may be hard to discover and easily obscured by crowd emotions.".Fri, 17 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000595urn:bbc:podcast:b07flhwbhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07flhwbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07flhwbHow Should We Build?Roger Scruton says we should protect the English countryside by making beauty our priority when we build new houses while in towns we should reverse the damage done in previous decades.
"Surely the time has come to tear down the post-war estates, and to recover the old street lines that they extinguished."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton says we should prioritise beauty when building in the countryside.Roger Scruton says we should protect the English countryside by making beauty our priority when we build new houses while in towns we should reverse the damage done in previous decades.
"Surely the time has come to tear down the post-war estates, and to recover the old street lines that they extinguished."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b07dp057http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dp057cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07dp057The Ring of the NibelungAs Wagner's Ring - that huge and controversial cycle of operas - goes on tour, self-professed Wagner fan, Roger Scruton, tells us why The Ring is absolutely a story for our time.
"Despite our attempts to live without formal religion" writes Scruton, "we are no more free than people ever have been or ever will be from the religious need".
He adds: "I have loved The Ring and learned from it for over 50 years and for me, it is quite simply the truth about our world - but the truth expressed by means of music of unquestionable authority and supreme melodic and harmonic power".Roger Scruton on why Wagner's opera cycle The Ring is absolutely a story for our time.As Wagner's Ring - that huge and controversial cycle of operas - goes on tour, self-professed Wagner fan, Roger Scruton, tells us why The Ring is absolutely a story for our time.
"Despite our attempts to live without formal religion" writes Scruton, "we are no more free than people ever have been or ever will be from the religious need".
He adds: "I have loved The Ring and learned from it for over 50 years and for me, it is quite simply the truth about our world - but the truth expressed by means of music of unquestionable authority and supreme melodic and harmonic power".Fri, 03 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000592urn:bbc:podcast:b07cyvkrhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cyvkrcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07cyvkrI Gave It All AwayWill Self argues that instead of holding onto money until old age, we should give children their inheritance when they're most in need of it.
"Forget the old right/left, rich/poor division" he says, "nowadays the greatest divergence lies between the old and the young".
And he asks how can we in conscience go on denying the young the opportunity to clear up the mess we've ? for the most part quite inadvertently ? created for them. "Give it all away!" is his plea.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self argues we should give children their inheritance when they're most in need of itWill Self argues that instead of holding onto money until old age, we should give children their inheritance when they're most in need of it.
"Forget the old right/left, rich/poor division" he says, "nowadays the greatest divergence lies between the old and the young".
And he asks how can we in conscience go on denying the young the opportunity to clear up the mess we've ? for the most part quite inadvertently ? created for them. "Give it all away!" is his plea.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 27 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000556urn:bbc:podcast:b07c59lthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07c59ltcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07c59ltPsy WarsWill Self - with a nod to the "valetudinarian pop-person, Morrissey" - poses the question "Does the mind rule the body or the body rule the mind?"
Before 1960, he says, "a Briton could probably go their entire life without encountering a psychiatrist or a psychoanalyst - let alone a modish psychotherapist". But not any more.
Will ponders what role these "psy-professions" play in contemporary Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.A reflection on a topical issue. Will Self ponders the role of the 'psy-professions'.Will Self - with a nod to the "valetudinarian pop-person, Morrissey" - poses the question "Does the mind rule the body or the body rule the mind?"
Before 1960, he says, "a Briton could probably go their entire life without encountering a psychiatrist or a psychoanalyst - let alone a modish psychotherapist". But not any more.
Will ponders what role these "psy-professions" play in contemporary Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 20 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000572urn:bbc:podcast:b07bfzjhhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07bfzjhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07bfzjhSpell-checking the FutrSelf-confessed "digi-drunkard" Will Self on predictive texting, spellchecking and algorithms.
Will tries to convince himself - and us - that his use of technology is considered and practical, not the "glug-glugging of the cyber sozzled"!
But, he admits, "a great river of denial runs through me...as I fidget and tweezer my way through the glassy looking-glass and into the virtual world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Self-confessed digi-drunkard Will Self on predictive texting, spellchecking and algorithmsSelf-confessed "digi-drunkard" Will Self on predictive texting, spellchecking and algorithms.
Will tries to convince himself - and us - that his use of technology is considered and practical, not the "glug-glugging of the cyber sozzled"!
But, he admits, "a great river of denial runs through me...as I fidget and tweezer my way through the glassy looking-glass and into the virtual world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 13 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000596urn:bbc:podcast:b07b9x8hhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07b9x8hcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07b9x8hFlorence Under Water50 years after one of the worst floods in Florence's history, Sarah Dunant reflects on the events of 1966 and the work still going on to save some of the greatest art in the world.
She talks to some of those who were there about their memories of the human and cultural catastrophe.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant reflects on the legacy of one of the worst floods in Florence's history.50 years after one of the worst floods in Florence's history, Sarah Dunant reflects on the events of 1966 and the work still going on to save some of the greatest art in the world.
She talks to some of those who were there about their memories of the human and cultural catastrophe.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 06 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000575urn:bbc:podcast:b0790fryhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0790frycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0790fryThe Power of the PenOn a visit to her local flea market in Florence, Sarah Dunant stumbles across a love letter. The date: November 1918. There's the challenge of the Italian of course....but the biggest hurdle, she says, was the handwriting. It was "as if a conscientious ant had climbed out of the ink pot and then wound its way across every millimetre of the page".
Admiring the tiny handwriting with hardly any space between the lines, Sarah reflects on the modern day demise of handwriting.
"Regimented key strokes in various type fonts" are no substitute, she argues, for the beauty and emotion contained in handwriting.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant reflects on the demise of handwriting.On a visit to her local flea market in Florence, Sarah Dunant stumbles across a love letter. The date: November 1918. There's the challenge of the Italian of course....but the biggest hurdle, she says, was the handwriting. It was "as if a conscientious ant had climbed out of the ink pot and then wound its way across every millimetre of the page".
Admiring the tiny handwriting with hardly any space between the lines, Sarah reflects on the modern day demise of handwriting.
"Regimented key strokes in various type fonts" are no substitute, she argues, for the beauty and emotion contained in handwriting.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000586urn:bbc:podcast:b0788bcnhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0788bcncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0788bcnReading Renaissance ArtTaking a tour of some recent blockbuster art exhibitions, Sarah Dunant reflects on the importance of context for us to properly appreciate art.
She argues that increasingly we're sold art as a list of superstars. "To grab the headlines, put big numbers through the turnstiles, means focusing on the stars" she writes.
But understanding the great Renaissance masterpieces demands an understanding of the intellectual climate that produced them.
A scantily clad Ursula Andress emerging from the sea holding a conch will not really help us understand Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant argues that our current obsession with celebrity utterly undermines art.Taking a tour of some recent blockbuster art exhibitions, Sarah Dunant reflects on the importance of context for us to properly appreciate art.
She argues that increasingly we're sold art as a list of superstars. "To grab the headlines, put big numbers through the turnstiles, means focusing on the stars" she writes.
But understanding the great Renaissance masterpieces demands an understanding of the intellectual climate that produced them.
A scantily clad Ursula Andress emerging from the sea holding a conch will not really help us understand Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 22 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000589urn:bbc:podcast:b077jqq3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077jqq3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b077jqq3When Is Enough Enough?Sarah Dunant takes an historical look at avarice. She argues that the revelations in the Panama Papers are just the latest proof that man's greed is woven into the human psyche.
Dante gave it a harder time than lust...two centuries later, it's one of Machiavelli's central themes and many of the greatest works of art exist only because they were paid for by rich, often corrupt, figures, many within the church.
And - Sarah asks - aren't many of us, to some extent, guilty? Can any of us really say that when it comes to money we know when enough is enough?
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant takes an historical look at avarice, in the light of the Panama Papers.Sarah Dunant takes an historical look at avarice. She argues that the revelations in the Panama Papers are just the latest proof that man's greed is woven into the human psyche.
Dante gave it a harder time than lust...two centuries later, it's one of Machiavelli's central themes and many of the greatest works of art exist only because they were paid for by rich, often corrupt, figures, many within the church.
And - Sarah asks - aren't many of us, to some extent, guilty? Can any of us really say that when it comes to money we know when enough is enough?
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000569urn:bbc:podcast:b076prgxhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076prgxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b076prgxThe Meaning of TimeWill Self reflects on our sense of the meaning of time and the changes in our perception brought about by new technologies.
"Obviously the world wide web and the internet have played a key role in making each and every one of us a little hot spot of Nowness: over the past twenty years as more and more people have chosen to spend more and more of their time in this virtual realm, so we've sought to furnish its fuzzy immensity with our memories, individual and collective."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on our sense of the meaning of time.Will Self reflects on our sense of the meaning of time and the changes in our perception brought about by new technologies.
"Obviously the world wide web and the internet have played a key role in making each and every one of us a little hot spot of Nowness: over the past twenty years as more and more people have chosen to spend more and more of their time in this virtual realm, so we've sought to furnish its fuzzy immensity with our memories, individual and collective."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 08 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000584urn:bbc:podcast:b075thh1http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b075thh1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b075thh1Virtual ViolenceWill Self draws no comfort from an alleged drop in violence in the real world, as he sees us increasingly expressing our innate tendency towards violence in the virtual and online worlds.
" I don't think watching violence drives us to commit violent acts - I think it is a violent action in and of itself."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self thinks people are as violent as ever, counting the virtual and online worlds.Will Self draws no comfort from an alleged drop in violence in the real world, as he sees us increasingly expressing our innate tendency towards violence in the virtual and online worlds.
" I don't think watching violence drives us to commit violent acts - I think it is a violent action in and of itself."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 01 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000583urn:bbc:podcast:b074zy9vhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074zy9vcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b074zy9vAllergic to FoodFinding himself on a restricted diet, Will Self reflects on the rise of food allergies and intolerances which used to fail to invoke his sympathy.
"It's not so much that I doubt the physiological component of all this tummy rumbling and grumbling, it's more that the social and cultural aspects of the malaise have grown still louder in the past half decade.".Finding himself on a restricted diet, Will Self reflects on the rise of food allergies.Finding himself on a restricted diet, Will Self reflects on the rise of food allergies and intolerances which used to fail to invoke his sympathy.
"It's not so much that I doubt the physiological component of all this tummy rumbling and grumbling, it's more that the social and cultural aspects of the malaise have grown still louder in the past half decade.".Fri, 25 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000602urn:bbc:podcast:b07466lqhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07466lqcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b07466lqResolutionsAdam Gopnik struggles to keep his New Year's resolutions to find a "monastic moment" in the day to meditate and listen to good music.
"What gets in the way of our dream of practising detachment..is our daily practice of attachment, which may be the most human thing about us."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik struggles with his new year's resolutions to meditate and listen to good musicAdam Gopnik struggles to keep his New Year's resolutions to find a "monastic moment" in the day to meditate and listen to good music.
"What gets in the way of our dream of practising detachment..is our daily practice of attachment, which may be the most human thing about us."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000605urn:bbc:podcast:b073bb5lhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b073bb5lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b073bb5lHuman HybridsAdam Gopnik deplores the fashion for attacking so-called "cultural expropriation" as in the recent fuss over American students wearing sombreros at a Mexican theme party.
"Cultural mixing - the hybridization of hats, if you like - is the rule of civilisation not some new intrusion within our own. Healthy civilisations have always been mongrelized, cosmopolitan, hybrid, corrupted and expropriated and mixed.".Adam Gopnik deplores the fashion for attacking so-called 'cultural expropriation'.Adam Gopnik deplores the fashion for attacking so-called "cultural expropriation" as in the recent fuss over American students wearing sombreros at a Mexican theme party.
"Cultural mixing - the hybridization of hats, if you like - is the rule of civilisation not some new intrusion within our own. Healthy civilisations have always been mongrelized, cosmopolitan, hybrid, corrupted and expropriated and mixed.".Fri, 11 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000597urn:bbc:podcast:b072n8fxhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072n8fxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b072n8fxMoral FuturesAdam Gopnik thinks future generations will be as appalled by some practices that are accepted today as we are by aspects of the past.
"Even as we condemn our moral ancestors, we need to hold our ears to the wind, and listen for the faint sounds of our descendants telling their melancholy truths about us."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik thinks future generations will judge us as harshly as we judge our ancestors.Adam Gopnik thinks future generations will be as appalled by some practices that are accepted today as we are by aspects of the past.
"Even as we condemn our moral ancestors, we need to hold our ears to the wind, and listen for the faint sounds of our descendants telling their melancholy truths about us."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 26 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000576urn:bbc:podcast:b0717n96http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0717n96cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0717n96Vanilla HappinessAdam Gopnik says the secret of happiness lies in unexpected pleasures, like finding yoghourt is vanilla when you expect it to be plain.
"Are the intrinsic qualities of something more powerful than the context in which we perceive it, or are what we call intrinsic properties really only the effect of expectations and surprise?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik says the secret of happiness lies in unexpected pleasures.Adam Gopnik says the secret of happiness lies in unexpected pleasures, like finding yoghourt is vanilla when you expect it to be plain.
"Are the intrinsic qualities of something more powerful than the context in which we perceive it, or are what we call intrinsic properties really only the effect of expectations and surprise?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 19 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000600urn:bbc:podcast:b070hxsvhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b070hxsvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b070hxsvStar Wars ObsessionHelen Macdonald has made her name writing about nature and birds of prey. So why has she become so fascinated with the recent Star Wars movie that she's been to see it six times? In her first "A Point of View" she tries to get to the bottom of her obsession and wonders whether it's all down to nostalgia or something else.
Producer: Richard Vadon.Writer Helen Macdonald confesses to an obsession with the recent Star Wars movie.Helen Macdonald has made her name writing about nature and birds of prey. So why has she become so fascinated with the recent Star Wars movie that she's been to see it six times? In her first "A Point of View" she tries to get to the bottom of her obsession and wonders whether it's all down to nostalgia or something else.
Producer: Richard Vadon.Fri, 05 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000597urn:bbc:podcast:b06z5jmthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z5jmtcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06z5jmtExpert by ExperienceAfter hearing a former political prisoner in South Africa and a holocaust survivor tell their stories, Tom Shakespeare concludes that personal experience is the most powerful form of expertise.
"Hearing their testimonies affected me more deeply than any lecture, book or film. They were unforgettable authentic encounters."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tom Shakespeare reflects that personal experience is the most powerful form of expertise.After hearing a former political prisoner in South Africa and a holocaust survivor tell their stories, Tom Shakespeare concludes that personal experience is the most powerful form of expertise.
"Hearing their testimonies affected me more deeply than any lecture, book or film. They were unforgettable authentic encounters."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 29 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000576urn:bbc:podcast:b06yfyqfhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06yfyqfcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06yfyqfFace to FaceTom Shakespeare is concerned by the growth in cosmetic procedures and the pressure more and more women and girls, in particular, feel to conform to a face and body type.
"My anxiety is about the society that first generates body dissatisfaction and then provides surgery as the solution to that cultural problem".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tom Shakespeare is concerned by what the rise of cosmetic surgery says about society.Tom Shakespeare is concerned by the growth in cosmetic procedures and the pressure more and more women and girls, in particular, feel to conform to a face and body type.
"My anxiety is about the society that first generates body dissatisfaction and then provides surgery as the solution to that cultural problem".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000601urn:bbc:podcast:b06wj7c1http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06wj7c1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06wj7c1Sing a New SongTom Shakespeare argues that we need a new national anthem, one that celebrates what's great about the whole country, reflects the diversity of the population and the values of modern society.
He suggests that existing anthem-like hymns such as Jerusalem, or the likes of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory won't do. Jerusalem, for example, talks of walking on England's mountains green, excluding the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish.
A new anthem, written and composed for the purpose, would actually mean something and would make us proud of what's great about the United Kingdom. It would be in tune with our times.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Tom Shakespeare argues that the country needs a new national anthem.Tom Shakespeare argues that we need a new national anthem, one that celebrates what's great about the whole country, reflects the diversity of the population and the values of modern society.
He suggests that existing anthem-like hymns such as Jerusalem, or the likes of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory won't do. Jerusalem, for example, talks of walking on England's mountains green, excluding the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish.
A new anthem, written and composed for the purpose, would actually mean something and would make us proud of what's great about the United Kingdom. It would be in tune with our times.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000602urn:bbc:podcast:b06vnbcyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vnbcycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06vnbcyPeerlessTom Shakespeare argues the House of Lords should be completely reformed and turned into a Senate of 300 members (down from over 800). He suggests they should consist of 100 politicians, selected in proportion to parties' showing in the previous general election, 100 cross-benchers, chosen for their expertise, and 100 members of the public, selected from the electoral roll like juries.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Tom Shakespeare suggests ways to shrink and completely reform the House of Lords.Tom Shakespeare argues the House of Lords should be completely reformed and turned into a Senate of 300 members (down from over 800). He suggests they should consist of 100 politicians, selected in proportion to parties' showing in the previous general election, 100 cross-benchers, chosen for their expertise, and 100 members of the public, selected from the electoral roll like juries.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000613urn:bbc:podcast:b06tvwvghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tvwvgcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06tvwvgHoward Jacobson: WisdomHoward Jacobson does not feel complimented when someone describes him as "wise". He would sooner have understanding, akin to that of Shakespeare.
"What's wrong with wisdom is it implies stasis, as though our greatest faculties of cognition and intuition are at their journey's end, have attained a peak of complacency from which they gaze down imperturbably on the small vanities of man.".Howard Jacobson does not feel complimented when someone describes him as 'wise'.Howard Jacobson does not feel complimented when someone describes him as "wise". He would sooner have understanding, akin to that of Shakespeare.
"What's wrong with wisdom is it implies stasis, as though our greatest faculties of cognition and intuition are at their journey's end, have attained a peak of complacency from which they gaze down imperturbably on the small vanities of man.".Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000606urn:bbc:podcast:b06spjqshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06spjqscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06spjqsHoward Jacobson: SermonsHoward Jacobson would sooner see Radio 4's Thought for the Day more not less religious and argues that humanists and the religious can meet in sermonizing when it's of the majesty of a great preacher like John Donne.
"I fall to wondering what exactly non-religious needs are, and whether, by insisting on a distinction between the religious and the non-religious, humanists aren't making an unpardonably limiting assumption about both."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson would sooner see Radio 4's Thought for the Day more, not less, religious.Howard Jacobson would sooner see Radio 4's Thought for the Day more not less religious and argues that humanists and the religious can meet in sermonizing when it's of the majesty of a great preacher like John Donne.
"I fall to wondering what exactly non-religious needs are, and whether, by insisting on a distinction between the religious and the non-religious, humanists aren't making an unpardonably limiting assumption about both."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 25 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000613urn:bbc:podcast:b06sd27khttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sd27kcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06sd27kHoward Jacobson: ChristmasHoward Jacobson recalls the healthy mongrel mix of traditions in his Jewish family's festivities at Christmas.
"Let's rejoice in the eclecticism, I say, and find in the varieties of ways people choose to mark or miss the point of Christmas the universal love that is its message."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson recalls a mongrel mix of traditions in his family's Christmas festivities.Howard Jacobson recalls the healthy mongrel mix of traditions in his Jewish family's festivities at Christmas.
"Let's rejoice in the eclecticism, I say, and find in the varieties of ways people choose to mark or miss the point of Christmas the universal love that is its message."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b06s1gcnhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s1gcncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06s1gcnSarah Dunant: Protest, Paris, TerrorSarah Dunant reflects on the nature of protest against the threat of terrorism and the threat of climate change and their coming together in the city of Paris.
"How do we find a sense of potency in the face of terror, how do we embrace life when threatened with death, how do we champion our future against those who claim they will just carry on dying until they win? Perhaps what is needed is mental as much as military action."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant reflects on the links between protest, terrorism, climate change and Paris.Sarah Dunant reflects on the nature of protest against the threat of terrorism and the threat of climate change and their coming together in the city of Paris.
"How do we find a sense of potency in the face of terror, how do we embrace life when threatened with death, how do we champion our future against those who claim they will just carry on dying until they win? Perhaps what is needed is mental as much as military action."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 04 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000591urn:bbc:podcast:b06qmyynhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qmyyncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06qmyynFrom Pot to ProfitSarah Dunant welcomes Canada's plans to fully legalise marijuana and sees the benefits of a booming cannabis products industry in the American states where it's already legal.
"It costs society too much, in all senses, to criminalise so many people - and disproportionately young black or Latino men - for doing something, which legalised could create jobs and help balance the budget."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant welcomes Canada's plans to fully legalise marijuana.Sarah Dunant welcomes Canada's plans to fully legalise marijuana and sees the benefits of a booming cannabis products industry in the American states where it's already legal.
"It costs society too much, in all senses, to criminalise so many people - and disproportionately young black or Latino men - for doing something, which legalised could create jobs and help balance the budget."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000608urn:bbc:podcast:b06py0lphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06py0lpcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06py0lpSarah Dunant: Crisis in CatholicismSarah Dunant sees a new crisis in the Catholic church as a result of unchanged policy over divorce, homosexuality, celibacy and the role of women.
"Men may truly believe in God but for most of them chastity is too big an ask and if enforced leads, at worst, to abuse and at best to a clergy and hierarchy ignorant of, and often unsympathetic to, the problems of being human. From there it's but a skip and a jump to the role of women and their exclusion from the heart of the church."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant sees a new crisis in the Catholic Church as a result of unchanged policy.Sarah Dunant sees a new crisis in the Catholic church as a result of unchanged policy over divorce, homosexuality, celibacy and the role of women.
"Men may truly believe in God but for most of them chastity is too big an ask and if enforced leads, at worst, to abuse and at best to a clergy and hierarchy ignorant of, and often unsympathetic to, the problems of being human. From there it's but a skip and a jump to the role of women and their exclusion from the heart of the church."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000607urn:bbc:podcast:b06pdlgbhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pdlgbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06pdlgbRoger Scruton: The Tyranny of PopRoger Scruton deplores the tyranny of banal and ubiquitous pop music. Young people, above all, need help to appreciate instead the great music of our civilisation.
"Unless we teach children to judge, to discriminate, to recognize the difference between music of lasting value and mere ephemera, we give up on the task of education."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton deplores the tyranny of banal and ubiquitous pop music.Roger Scruton deplores the tyranny of banal and ubiquitous pop music. Young people, above all, need help to appreciate instead the great music of our civilisation.
"Unless we teach children to judge, to discriminate, to recognize the difference between music of lasting value and mere ephemera, we give up on the task of education."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b06mv4jshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06mv4jscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06mv4jsRoger Scruton: Offensive JokesRoger Scruton says we must feel free to express opinions and to make jokes that others may find offensive; censoring them them only leads to a loss of reasoned argument.
"The policing of the public sphere with a view to suppressing 'racist' opinions has caused a kind of public psychosis, a sense of having to tip-toe through a minefield, and to avoid all the areas where the bomb of outrage might go off in your face."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton argues for the freedom to make jokes that others may find offensive.Roger Scruton says we must feel free to express opinions and to make jokes that others may find offensive; censoring them them only leads to a loss of reasoned argument.
"The policing of the public sphere with a view to suppressing 'racist' opinions has caused a kind of public psychosis, a sense of having to tip-toe through a minefield, and to avoid all the areas where the bomb of outrage might go off in your face."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 30 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000574urn:bbc:podcast:b06kh677http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06kh677cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06kh677Roger Scruton: In Defence of Free SpeechRoger Scruton argues that the law on freedom of speech ought to protect those who express heretical views and not be used to close down debate.
"Free speech is not the cause of the tensions that are growing around us, but the only possible solution to them."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton argues that the law on freedom of speech ought to protect heretical views.Roger Scruton argues that the law on freedom of speech ought to protect those who express heretical views and not be used to close down debate.
"Free speech is not the cause of the tensions that are growing around us, but the only possible solution to them."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 23 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b06j6bybhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j6bybcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06j6bybWill Self: On GardeningWill Self reflects on our relationship with gardens and gardening.Will Self reflects on our relationship with gardens and gardening.Will Self reflects on our relationship with gardens and gardening.Fri, 16 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000585urn:bbc:podcast:b06gxysxhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06gxysxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06gxysxWill Self: Looks MatterWill Self says we can't pretend that looks don't matter or that everyone is beautiful, including the obese.
"That different cultures, during different eras, have found different aspects of the human form beautiful is another straw the sub-gorgeous clutch for."
Producer:Sheila Cook.Will Self says people cannot pretend that looks do not matter.Will Self says we can't pretend that looks don't matter or that everyone is beautiful, including the obese.
"That different cultures, during different eras, have found different aspects of the human form beautiful is another straw the sub-gorgeous clutch for."
Producer:Sheila Cook.Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000606urn:bbc:podcast:b06fpcgdhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06fpcgdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06fpcgdWill Self: What's in a NameWill Self reflects on the significance of names, including his own.
"We desire to be recognised for who we really are, and seek out in our very ascription the means of uniting our intimate identities with our social selves.".Will Self reflects on the significance of names, including his own.Will Self reflects on the significance of names, including his own.
"We desire to be recognised for who we really are, and seek out in our very ascription the means of uniting our intimate identities with our social selves.".Fri, 02 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000599urn:bbc:podcast:b06d9t39http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d9t39cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06d9t39Will Self: A Life of HabitWill Self sees our love of habit as a shield against the unexpected in life.
"For us, custom, and its bespoke application, habit, are integral to our lives; because - or so we sort of reason - if we fill up our days with oft repeated actions, we can shut our ears to the siren song of contingency."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self sees a love of habit as a shield against the unexpected in life.Will Self sees our love of habit as a shield against the unexpected in life.
"For us, custom, and its bespoke application, habit, are integral to our lives; because - or so we sort of reason - if we fill up our days with oft repeated actions, we can shut our ears to the siren song of contingency."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 25 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000596urn:bbc:podcast:b06c4l20http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06c4l20cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06c4l20Will Self: Losing SleepWill Self reflects on the various reasons for his inability to sleep soundly any more.
"I concede there is something about our contemporary existence, especially in big, bustling cities, which seems altogether inimical to a good night's rest."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the various reasons for his inability to sleep soundly any more.Will Self reflects on the various reasons for his inability to sleep soundly any more.
"I concede there is something about our contemporary existence, especially in big, bustling cities, which seems altogether inimical to a good night's rest."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000595urn:bbc:podcast:b06b3ny6http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06b3ny6cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06b3ny6P J O'Rourke: Presidential CandidatesP J O'Rourke sizes up the candidates aspiring to be the President of the United States.
"Who are all these jacklegs, high-binders, wire-pullers, mountebanks, swellheads, buncombe spigots, boodle artists, four-flushers and animated spittoons offering themselves as worthy of our nation's highest office?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.PJ O'Rourke sizes up the candidates aspiring to be President of the United States.P J O'Rourke sizes up the candidates aspiring to be the President of the United States.
"Who are all these jacklegs, high-binders, wire-pullers, mountebanks, swellheads, buncombe spigots, boodle artists, four-flushers and animated spittoons offering themselves as worthy of our nation's highest office?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 11 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000570urn:bbc:podcast:b068yf8zhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068yf8zcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b068yf8zThe Abolition of ManJohn Gray warns about the dangers of science that attempts to enhance human abilities. He says such knowledge can jeopardize the very things that make us human.
More than 70 years after C.S. Lewis wrote "The Abolition of Man", John Gray argues that Lewis' questions are even more relevant today than they were then. "The scientists of Lewis's generation were dissatisfied with existing humankind" he writes. "Using new techniques, they were convinced they could design a much improved version of the species".
But Gray says that while the scientific knowledge needed to remould humanity hardly existed then, it is rapidly developing at the present time.
He believes that the sciences of bioengineering and artificial intelligence carry serious risks. "If at some unknown point in the future it becomes feasible to remould ourselves according to our dreams" he writes, "the result can only be an impoverishment of the human world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray warns about the dangers of science that promises to enhance human abilities.John Gray warns about the dangers of science that attempts to enhance human abilities. He says such knowledge can jeopardize the very things that make us human.
More than 70 years after C.S. Lewis wrote "The Abolition of Man", John Gray argues that Lewis' questions are even more relevant today than they were then. "The scientists of Lewis's generation were dissatisfied with existing humankind" he writes. "Using new techniques, they were convinced they could design a much improved version of the species".
But Gray says that while the scientific knowledge needed to remould humanity hardly existed then, it is rapidly developing at the present time.
He believes that the sciences of bioengineering and artificial intelligence carry serious risks. "If at some unknown point in the future it becomes feasible to remould ourselves according to our dreams" he writes, "the result can only be an impoverishment of the human world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000589urn:bbc:podcast:b06811fkhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06811fkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06811fkAnother Kind of AtheismJohn Gray looks to history to argue that it's time to rethink today's narrow view of atheism.
He ponders the lives of two little known atheists from the past - the nineteenth century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and the Somerset essayist and novelist Llewelyn Powys. He says their work shows how atheism can be far richer and subtler than the version we're familiar with.
"The predominant strand of contemporary unbelief , which aims to convert the world to a scientific view of things, is only one way of living without an idea of God" writes Gray.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray discusses why it's time to rethink today's narrow view of atheism.John Gray looks to history to argue that it's time to rethink today's narrow view of atheism.
He ponders the lives of two little known atheists from the past - the nineteenth century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and the Somerset essayist and novelist Llewelyn Powys. He says their work shows how atheism can be far richer and subtler than the version we're familiar with.
"The predominant strand of contemporary unbelief , which aims to convert the world to a scientific view of things, is only one way of living without an idea of God" writes Gray.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000592urn:bbc:podcast:b06707kqhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06707kqcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06707kqJohn Gray: Recalling Eric AmblerJohn Gray recalls the life and work of the thriller writer Eric Ambler and finds uncomfortable echoes of today's society in the pages of his novels.
"What they reveal is a world ruled by financial and geopolitical forces that care nothing for the human individual. Most unsettlingly, this world is unmistakably European."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray frecalls the work of Eric Ambler and finds unsettling contemporary echoes.John Gray recalls the life and work of the thriller writer Eric Ambler and finds uncomfortable echoes of today's society in the pages of his novels.
"What they reveal is a world ruled by financial and geopolitical forces that care nothing for the human individual. Most unsettlingly, this world is unmistakably European."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000580urn:bbc:podcast:b065xk25http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065xk25cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b065xk25John Gray: Euro DespairJohn Gray sees the European currency as a misconceived project from the outset and thinks the austerity policies imposed on Greece are destructive and self defeating.
"Attempting to maintain the euro at any cost can only result in mounting desperation, which will seek expression in violence if no practicable policies are on offer to ameliorate the situation."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray sees the euro as a misconceived project with Greece's economy as a casualty.John Gray sees the European currency as a misconceived project from the outset and thinks the austerity policies imposed on Greece are destructive and self defeating.
"Attempting to maintain the euro at any cost can only result in mounting desperation, which will seek expression in violence if no practicable policies are on offer to ameliorate the situation."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000555urn:bbc:podcast:b0650874http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0650874cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0650874Adam Gopnik: Long-Form TelevisionAdam Gopnik reflects on the reason for our obsession with long - form television series and sees a link to the current brevity of all our other forms of discourse.
"As communication, public and political and spiritual, becomes ever more condensed - as newspapers close and are replaced exclusively with Instagram feeds, as texting becomes ever more enciphered and as the demotic slang of teens, which we will all speak sooner or later, becomes ever more abbreviated then we can expect, or dread, ever longer compensatory popular narratives."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik reflects on the reason for our obsession with long-form television series.Adam Gopnik reflects on the reason for our obsession with long - form television series and sees a link to the current brevity of all our other forms of discourse.
"As communication, public and political and spiritual, becomes ever more condensed - as newspapers close and are replaced exclusively with Instagram feeds, as texting becomes ever more enciphered and as the demotic slang of teens, which we will all speak sooner or later, becomes ever more abbreviated then we can expect, or dread, ever longer compensatory popular narratives."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000597urn:bbc:podcast:b06445xhhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06445xhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b06445xhAdam Gopnik: Role ReversalA weekly reflection on a topical issue.A weekly reflection on a topical issue.A weekly reflection on a topical issue.Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000604urn:bbc:podcast:b063dgs9http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063dgs9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b063dgs9Peter Aspden: In Love with GreecePeter Aspden thinks the powerful influence of Greece, both ancient and modern, on European sensibilities makes the current economic crisis full of emotionally charged symbolism.
"I often think that the hostility between Greece and its harshest current antagonist Germany, for example, is best seen as a furious tiff between former lovers."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Peter Aspden reflects on the emotional power of the cultural influence of Greece.Peter Aspden thinks the powerful influence of Greece, both ancient and modern, on European sensibilities makes the current economic crisis full of emotionally charged symbolism.
"I often think that the hostility between Greece and its harshest current antagonist Germany, for example, is best seen as a furious tiff between former lovers."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000601urn:bbc:podcast:b062n4nvhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b062n4nvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b062n4nvAdam Gopnik: In Praise of PrivacyAlthough he loves to read collections of private letters by public figures, Adam Gopnik feels disturbed and offended by the lip-smacking ease with which people thumb through Hillary Clinton's or Amy Pascal's once private e-mails and asks what are the proper limits of privacy in the Internet age. Are we putting at risk part of the future historical record?
"The practice of showing what life is really like later depends on keeping some parts of life clandestine while they're happening".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik reflects on the need to protect private communications in the internet age.Although he loves to read collections of private letters by public figures, Adam Gopnik feels disturbed and offended by the lip-smacking ease with which people thumb through Hillary Clinton's or Amy Pascal's once private e-mails and asks what are the proper limits of privacy in the Internet age. Are we putting at risk part of the future historical record?
"The practice of showing what life is really like later depends on keeping some parts of life clandestine while they're happening".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000586urn:bbc:podcast:b061tsyphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b061tsypcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b061tsypAdam Gopnik: Power, Persecution and PluralismAdam Gopnik wonders why religious people are feeling "persecuted" following the US Supreme Court ruling making same sex marriage legal in all fifty states. Can a religious person free to practice their religion actually feel persecuted? Are they just offended by the practices of a pluralistic society, or do they have a point?
"Their complaint is, in its way, one that seems fixed in the political choices of the late Roman Empire: the only alternatives they can recognise as real are either power or persecution. Either you are the magistrate making rules, or else you are the martyr being sacrificed to them."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik wonders why religious people are feeling 'persecuted' by same-sex marriage.Adam Gopnik wonders why religious people are feeling "persecuted" following the US Supreme Court ruling making same sex marriage legal in all fifty states. Can a religious person free to practice their religion actually feel persecuted? Are they just offended by the practices of a pluralistic society, or do they have a point?
"Their complaint is, in its way, one that seems fixed in the political choices of the late Roman Empire: the only alternatives they can recognise as real are either power or persecution. Either you are the magistrate making rules, or else you are the martyr being sacrificed to them."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000602urn:bbc:podcast:b0612wdrhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0612wdrcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0612wdrAdam Gopnik: Family ReunionsAdam Gopnik's ten-year family reunion brings into focus the passage of time.
"The inescapable material of any family reunion, British or American, Jewish or Celtic, is always the same: each offering a hair-raising or hair-losing seminar on the effects of time on the human body and soul, and especially on the difference between aging and growing."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik's ten-year family reunion brings into focus the passage of time.Adam Gopnik's ten-year family reunion brings into focus the passage of time.
"The inescapable material of any family reunion, British or American, Jewish or Celtic, is always the same: each offering a hair-raising or hair-losing seminar on the effects of time on the human body and soul, and especially on the difference between aging and growing."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000597urn:bbc:podcast:b060bxpjhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b060bxpjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b060bxpjAdam Gopnik: Words and MusicAdam Gopnik's experience of writing a libretto casts light on the mysterious relationship between words and music.
"Sung words belong more fully to the world of ritual and routine, of incantation and mother's murmurings, than to the fully lucid and well-lit world of argument."
Producer:Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik's casts light on the mysterious relationship between words and music.Adam Gopnik's experience of writing a libretto casts light on the mysterious relationship between words and music.
"Sung words belong more fully to the world of ritual and routine, of incantation and mother's murmurings, than to the fully lucid and well-lit world of argument."
Producer:Sheila Cook.Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000585urn:bbc:podcast:b05zlltshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zlltscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05zlltsAdam Gopnik: Indispensable ManAdam Gopnik found himself supplanted as his family's waffle maker while he was away on a trip and concludes there are no indispensable people in any organization (or family) anywhere, though we all like to imagine that there are. There are only instructions on the side of the box, which anyone can follow.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik concludes there are no indispensable people in any family or organisation.Adam Gopnik found himself supplanted as his family's waffle maker while he was away on a trip and concludes there are no indispensable people in any organization (or family) anywhere, though we all like to imagine that there are. There are only instructions on the side of the box, which anyone can follow.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 19 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000610urn:bbc:podcast:b05y18pzhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05y18pzcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05y18pzAL Kennedy: The Worth of Education"A school's core strength is that it's a school" writes AL Kennedy. She argues that the "monetisation" of learning - where its value is assessed in purely monetary terms - risks destroying the very essence of learning. She says we need to rethink this "quiet mess" before it's too late.AL Kennedy on the drive to make money out of education."A school's core strength is that it's a school" writes AL Kennedy. She argues that the "monetisation" of learning - where its value is assessed in purely monetary terms - risks destroying the very essence of learning. She says we need to rethink this "quiet mess" before it's too late.Fri, 12 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000590urn:bbc:podcast:b05xqg4mhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05xqg4mcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05xqg4mAL Kennedy: Creamola Foam remembered"I'm getting old. Not older, just old" begins AL Kennedy. Through childhood memories of drinking Creamola Foam, her grandfather's voice ...and being kicked by a boy in the shin during playtimes, she reflects on how age changes our perception of the past and the future.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy reflects on how age changes our view of the past and the future."I'm getting old. Not older, just old" begins AL Kennedy. Through childhood memories of drinking Creamola Foam, her grandfather's voice ...and being kicked by a boy in the shin during playtimes, she reflects on how age changes our perception of the past and the future.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 05 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000607urn:bbc:podcast:b05wz90vhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05wz90vcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05wz90vIn Praise of CourtesyAL Kennedy takes the recent death of a friend - the screenwriter Gill Dennis - as her starting point in an exploration of courtesy. "When courtesy walks into a room," she writes, "it seems to turn a light on". She contrasts this with a striking example of discourtesy she encountered on a train journey.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy explores the merits of courtesy, but she points out that it can be complicated.AL Kennedy takes the recent death of a friend - the screenwriter Gill Dennis - as her starting point in an exploration of courtesy. "When courtesy walks into a room," she writes, "it seems to turn a light on". She contrasts this with a striking example of discourtesy she encountered on a train journey.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000603urn:bbc:podcast:b05w8dnzhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05w8dnzcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05w8dnzPolitics of HopeAL Kennedy says the election results in Scotland reflect a surge in political engagement in which people continue to feel they have the power to make a difference.
"A significant percentage of Scotland's voters on both sides of the independence question currently seem intent on reverse-engineering a democracy by beginning with hope."
Producer: Sheila Cook.AL Kennedy says the election results in Scotland reflect a surge in political engagement.AL Kennedy says the election results in Scotland reflect a surge in political engagement in which people continue to feel they have the power to make a difference.
"A significant percentage of Scotland's voters on both sides of the independence question currently seem intent on reverse-engineering a democracy by beginning with hope."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 22 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000608urn:bbc:podcast:b05vhlcdhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vhlcdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05vhlcdPresidents as MonarchsDavid Cannadine says when Barack Obama's critics accuse him of acting like a king they're forgetting the origins of the office of President.
"From the outset, the American presidency was vested with what might be termed monarchical authority, which meant that it really was a form of elective kingship."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine says Barack Obama is not the first American president to act like a king.David Cannadine says when Barack Obama's critics accuse him of acting like a king they're forgetting the origins of the office of President.
"From the outset, the American presidency was vested with what might be termed monarchical authority, which meant that it really was a form of elective kingship."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 15 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150515-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tq1s3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05tq1s3Election ViewThe American writer PJ O'Rourke gives his view of the UK election. "In the once solidly red-rosette glens and braes and lochs and heather the Scottish National Party snatched the sporran, ripped the kilt off and walked away in the ghillie brogues of Labour"
Producer: Sheila Cook.A American writer PJ O'Rourke gives his view of the UK election.The American writer PJ O'Rourke gives his view of the UK election. "In the once solidly red-rosette glens and braes and lochs and heather the Scottish National Party snatched the sporran, ripped the kilt off and walked away in the ghillie brogues of Labour"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 08 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000586http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150508-1900.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05sycdscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05sycdsLeaders Old and YoungDavid Cannadine reflects on the merits of youth and age in our political leaders and finds the current set taking their parties into next week's election strikingly young.
"It's a curious and unexplained paradox that in earlier times, when life expectancy was much lower than it is today, politicians were generally much older; whereas nowadays, when life expectancy is much greater, it's widely believed, at least in some quarters, that politicians ought to be younger".
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the merits of youth and age in political leaders.David Cannadine reflects on the merits of youth and age in our political leaders and finds the current set taking their parties into next week's election strikingly young.
"It's a curious and unexplained paradox that in earlier times, when life expectancy was much lower than it is today, politicians were generally much older; whereas nowadays, when life expectancy is much greater, it's widely believed, at least in some quarters, that politicians ought to be younger".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 01 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150501-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05s3r6xcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05s3r6xCommemorative StyleDavid Cannadine compares the enthusiasm for national commemorations in Britain with the more understated syle in the United States. "It's easier for Britain, which is a relatively small and unified nation, with a strong central government, to stage nationally inclusive displays of commemoration than it is for the United States, which is a country with a relatively weak federal government, that many people dislike and distrust, and which oversees a vast transcontinental empire extending from one ocean to another and beyond."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine compares the style of national commemorations in the US and in Britain.David Cannadine compares the enthusiasm for national commemorations in Britain with the more understated syle in the United States. "It's easier for Britain, which is a relatively small and unified nation, with a strong central government, to stage nationally inclusive displays of commemoration than it is for the United States, which is a country with a relatively weak federal government, that many people dislike and distrust, and which oversees a vast transcontinental empire extending from one ocean to another and beyond."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150424-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05r71xmcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05r71xmIdeology Versus ArtHoward Jacobson explains why he prefers art to ideology, especially at election time, and always has. "I consider myself fortunate enough to have been brought up in a state of dogma-free grace." "...the point of art is to refute whatever it is we've made up our minds about."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson explains why he prefers art to ideology, especially at election time.Howard Jacobson explains why he prefers art to ideology, especially at election time, and always has. "I consider myself fortunate enough to have been brought up in a state of dogma-free grace." "...the point of art is to refute whatever it is we've made up our minds about."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000571http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150417-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qk6zxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05qk6zxLife's a SelfieHoward Jacobson explains why he dislikes the narcissism of the selfie.
"It's always possible that there's some Rembrandt of the selfie out there, using his 'phone to investigate the ravages of age, the incursions of melancholy, and even the psychology of self-obsession itself, but commonly the selfie performs a less self-critical function, putting the self at the centre of everything we see, marking the landscape with our faces, as though the only possible interest of the outside world is that we're in it."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson explains why he dislikes the narcissism of the selfie.Howard Jacobson explains why he dislikes the narcissism of the selfie.
"It's always possible that there's some Rembrandt of the selfie out there, using his 'phone to investigate the ravages of age, the incursions of melancholy, and even the psychology of self-obsession itself, but commonly the selfie performs a less self-critical function, putting the self at the centre of everything we see, marking the landscape with our faces, as though the only possible interest of the outside world is that we're in it."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000573http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150410-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05prq82cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05prq82Mankle Image CrisisHoward Jacobson thinks the current focus of male fashion on the ankle region or "mankle", revealed by the trousers of skimpily cut suits, shows men are suffering from a self-image crisis.
"It would be a brave person who argued that what we wear counts for more than what we say, but in an image-driven culture our attention is always liable to drift away from words, however well chosen, to tailoring."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Howard Jacobson thinks skimpy suits show men are suffering from a self-image crisis.Howard Jacobson thinks the current focus of male fashion on the ankle region or "mankle", revealed by the trousers of skimpily cut suits, shows men are suffering from a self-image crisis.
"It would be a brave person who argued that what we wear counts for more than what we say, but in an image-driven culture our attention is always liable to drift away from words, however well chosen, to tailoring."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000587http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150403-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05ny7p9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05ny7p9The Price of IndependenceTom Shakespeare says that disabled people's right to independent living is under threat as a result of the imminent winding up of the Independent Living Fund. "I hope that whichever parties are in government after May will have a rethink about social care. The ILF may...have been an anomaly, but one of the glories of living in Britain is that we have a high tolerance of historical anomalies."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tom Shakespeare says that disabled people's right to independent living is under threat.Tom Shakespeare says that disabled people's right to independent living is under threat as a result of the imminent winding up of the Independent Living Fund. "I hope that whichever parties are in government after May will have a rethink about social care. The ILF may...have been an anomaly, but one of the glories of living in Britain is that we have a high tolerance of historical anomalies."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000572http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150327-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05ns9mtcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05ns9mtTrial by Select CommitteeTom Shakespeare thinks our reformed Select Committees have revitalised Parliament but he warns against the temptation to play to the gallery and to cross examine unfairly.
"Their main business is the worthy task of holding the government and the civil service to account, even if it's more fun holding unpopular public figures' feet to the fire."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tom Shakespeare thinks that reformed select committees have revitalised Parliament.Tom Shakespeare thinks our reformed Select Committees have revitalised Parliament but he warns against the temptation to play to the gallery and to cross examine unfairly.
"Their main business is the worthy task of holding the government and the civil service to account, even if it's more fun holding unpopular public figures' feet to the fire."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150320-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05j5r8lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b05j5r8lCognitive DeclineTom Shakespeare says increasing wisdom in middle age is at least some compensation for declining cognitive powers. "Wisdom is not the amount you know, it's how you see and how you interpret what you see."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tom Shakespeare says wisdom in middle age is some compensation for cognitive decline.Tom Shakespeare says increasing wisdom in middle age is at least some compensation for declining cognitive powers. "Wisdom is not the amount you know, it's how you see and how you interpret what you see."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000610http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150313-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054tmrpcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b054tmrpThe Nature of TimeWill Self reflects on the unsettling nature of time. "What gives our human cultures any sense of cohesion at all is an almost relentless effort to shore up our collective memory of the past against the remorseless depredations of time."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the unsettling nature of time.Will Self reflects on the unsettling nature of time. "What gives our human cultures any sense of cohesion at all is an almost relentless effort to shore up our collective memory of the past against the remorseless depredations of time."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150306-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0544070cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0544070Post-ImageA weekly reflection on a topical issue.A weekly reflection on a topical issue.A weekly reflection on a topical issue.Fri, 27 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150227-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053c3q5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b053c3q5The Power of FictionWill Self reflects on the power of our relationship with fictional characters. "People need people whose lives can be seen to follow a dramatic arc, so that no matter what trials they encounter, the people who survey them can be reassured that when the light begins to fade, these people - to whose frail psyches we've had privileged access - will at least feel it's all meant something."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the power of our relationship with fictional characters.Will Self reflects on the power of our relationship with fictional characters. "People need people whose lives can be seen to follow a dramatic arc, so that no matter what trials they encounter, the people who survey them can be reassured that when the light begins to fade, these people - to whose frail psyches we've had privileged access - will at least feel it's all meant something."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150220-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b052mjzncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b052mjznThe Purpose of SatireWill Self finds himself driven to reconsider the nature and purpose of satire in the wake of the murders at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. "The paradox is this: if satire aims at the moral reform of a given society it can only be effective within that particular society; and furthermore only if there's a commonly accepted ethical hierarchy to begin with. A satire that demands of the entire world that it observe the same secularist values as the French state is a form of imperialism like any other.".Will Self finds himself driven to reconsider the nature and purpose of satire.Will Self finds himself driven to reconsider the nature and purpose of satire in the wake of the murders at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. "The paradox is this: if satire aims at the moral reform of a given society it can only be effective within that particular society; and furthermore only if there's a commonly accepted ethical hierarchy to begin with. A satire that demands of the entire world that it observe the same secularist values as the French state is a form of imperialism like any other.".Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150213-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051w4f2cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b051w4f2Having ChildrenWill Self reflects on the growing and vexed divide between people with and without children. "The real indication that we don't know what value parenting currently has is that to either valorise or demonise this state of being seems as ridiculous (if not offensive) as doing the same in respect of childlessness".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the growing divide between people with and without children.Will Self reflects on the growing and vexed divide between people with and without children. "The real indication that we don't know what value parenting currently has is that to either valorise or demonise this state of being seems as ridiculous (if not offensive) as doing the same in respect of childlessness".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000564http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150206-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0512lngcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0512lngLosing TouchWill Self regrets our growing lack of physical contact with one another and with the natural world as a result of the rise of technology. "What the touch screen, the automatic door,online shopping and even the Bagladeshi sweatshop piece-worker who made our trousers are depriving us of is the exercise of our very sense of touch itself, and in particular they are relieving us of the need to touch other people."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self laments diminishing personal contact as a result of the rise of technology.Will Self regrets our growing lack of physical contact with one another and with the natural world as a result of the rise of technology. "What the touch screen, the automatic door,online shopping and even the Bagladeshi sweatshop piece-worker who made our trousers are depriving us of is the exercise of our very sense of touch itself, and in particular they are relieving us of the need to touch other people."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 30 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150130-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b050c5kjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b050c5kjThe Power of ArtAL Kennedy reflects on the importance of the beauty and creativity of art to sustain the human spirit.
"Art is a power and most of its true power is invisible, private, memorised and held even in prison cells and on forced marches, so you can see why totalitarians of all kinds dislike it."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.AL Kennedy reflects on the power of art to sustain the human spirit.AL Kennedy reflects on the importance of the beauty and creativity of art to sustain the human spirit.
"Art is a power and most of its true power is invisible, private, memorised and held even in prison cells and on forced marches, so you can see why totalitarians of all kinds dislike it."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150123-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04yk3w3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04yk3w3Language and ListeningAL Kennedy reflects on the importance of learning languages and listening to one another. "More words give me more paths to and from the hearts of others, more points of view - I don't think that's a bad thing."
Producer: Sheila Cook.AL Kennedy reflects on the importance of learning languages and listening to one another.AL Kennedy reflects on the importance of learning languages and listening to one another. "More words give me more paths to and from the hearts of others, more points of view - I don't think that's a bad thing."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150116-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xs4bncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04xs4bnCharlie HebdoAdam Gopnick reflects on the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
"The notion that what some have called France's 'stark secularism' - or its level of unemployment, or its history of exclusion, that imposed invisibility - is in any way to blame or even a root cause for this, depends on being ignorant of the actual history of France."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.Adam Gopnick reflects on the Charlie Hebdo massacre.Adam Gopnick reflects on the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
"The notion that what some have called France's 'stark secularism' - or its level of unemployment, or its history of exclusion, that imposed invisibility - is in any way to blame or even a root cause for this, depends on being ignorant of the actual history of France."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150109-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04wwwc8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04wwwc8The Pursuit of HappinessA L Kennedy reflects on what it means to pursue happiness in a world where "not having enough money can be utterly miserable" and indulging our desire to acquire is also unsatisfying. The answer may lie in seeing that happiness is, "not so much a condition as a destination - it can inspire journeys ...better made in company".
Producer: Sheila Cook.AL Kennedy reflects on what it means to pursue happiness.A L Kennedy reflects on what it means to pursue happiness in a world where "not having enough money can be utterly miserable" and indulging our desire to acquire is also unsatisfying. The answer may lie in seeing that happiness is, "not so much a condition as a destination - it can inspire journeys ...better made in company".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 02 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20150102-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vr10lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04vr10lMonarch's MessageDavid Cannadine reflects on the history of the Queen's Christmas message. Following the success of the first broadcast in 1932 by the Queen's grandfather, King George V, "what had begun as a one-off innovation" soon "became an invented tradition".
"There can be no doubt," says Cannadine, "it brought the King closer to his subjects than had been true of any monarch who had gone before him."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the history of the Queen's Christmas message.David Cannadine reflects on the history of the Queen's Christmas message. Following the success of the first broadcast in 1932 by the Queen's grandfather, King George V, "what had begun as a one-off innovation" soon "became an invented tradition".
"There can be no doubt," says Cannadine, "it brought the King closer to his subjects than had been true of any monarch who had gone before him."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 26 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141226-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vjl7ccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04vjl7cArt: The Real ThingIn the last of his three talks on art Roger Scruton asks what constitutes real art, as opposed to cliche or kitsch.
He says we must ignore the vast quantities of art produced as commodities to be sold, in contrast to symphonies or novels that cannot be owned in the same way as a painting or a sculpture.
Real art has to have lasting appeal, he argues, and for that it needs three things: beauty, form and redemption. The production of such art, he says, takes immense hard work and attention to detail, but it can give meaning to our modern lives and show love in the midst of doubt and desolation.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.What constitutes real art, as opposed to kitsch or that based on fake emotions and cliche?In the last of his three talks on art Roger Scruton asks what constitutes real art, as opposed to cliche or kitsch.
He says we must ignore the vast quantities of art produced as commodities to be sold, in contrast to symphonies or novels that cannot be owned in the same way as a painting or a sculpture.
Real art has to have lasting appeal, he argues, and for that it needs three things: beauty, form and redemption. The production of such art, he says, takes immense hard work and attention to detail, but it can give meaning to our modern lives and show love in the midst of doubt and desolation.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141219-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v66nlcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04v66nlKitschPhilosopher Roger Scruton looks at kitsch in the second of his three talks on art.
Kitsch, he says, creates the fantasy of an emotion without the real cost of feeling it. He argues that in the twentieth century artists became preoccupied by what they perceived as the need to avoid kitsch and sentimentality.
But it's not so easy. Some try being outrageously avant-garde, which can lead to a different kind of fake: cliche. So a new genre emerged: pre-emptive kitsch. Artists embraced kitsch and produce it deliberately to present it as a sophisticated parody. But is it art?
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Why the fear of producing kitsch art has led to a new kind of pre-emptive kitsch.Philosopher Roger Scruton looks at kitsch in the second of his three talks on art.
Kitsch, he says, creates the fantasy of an emotion without the real cost of feeling it. He argues that in the twentieth century artists became preoccupied by what they perceived as the need to avoid kitsch and sentimentality.
But it's not so easy. Some try being outrageously avant-garde, which can lead to a different kind of fake: cliche. So a new genre emerged: pre-emptive kitsch. Artists embraced kitsch and produce it deliberately to present it as a sophisticated parody. But is it art?
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141212-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tlr0gcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04tlr0gFaking ItPhilosopher Roger Scruton reflects on the difference between original art that is genuine, sincere and truthful, but hard to achieve, and the easier but fake art that he says appeals to many critics today.
He argues that original artists from Beethoven and Baudelaire to Picasso and Pound tower above those contemporary artists whose pieces push fake emotion - and who, by focusing on avoiding cliche, end up cliches themselves.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Roger Scruton muses on the difference between genuine art and that based on fake emotion.Philosopher Roger Scruton reflects on the difference between original art that is genuine, sincere and truthful, but hard to achieve, and the easier but fake art that he says appeals to many critics today.
He argues that original artists from Beethoven and Baudelaire to Picasso and Pound tower above those contemporary artists whose pieces push fake emotion - and who, by focusing on avoiding cliche, end up cliches themselves.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141205-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04sy4tvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04sy4tvThinking the UnthinkableJohn Gray argues that "thinking the unthinkable" as a way of making policy does nothing more than extend conventional wisdom to the point of absurdity and fails to take account of the complexities of reality. "Capitalism has lurched into a crisis from which it still has not recovered. Yet the worn-out ideology of free markets sets the framework within which our current generation of leaders continues to think and act."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray argues that 'thinking the unthinkable' means exaggerating fashionable beliefs.John Gray argues that "thinking the unthinkable" as a way of making policy does nothing more than extend conventional wisdom to the point of absurdity and fails to take account of the complexities of reality. "Capitalism has lurched into a crisis from which it still has not recovered. Yet the worn-out ideology of free markets sets the framework within which our current generation of leaders continues to think and act."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 28 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000542http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141128-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pvp8kcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04pvp8kDostoevsky and Dangerous IdeasJohn Gray points to lessons from the novels of Dostoevsky about the danger of ideas such as misguided idealism sweeping away tyrannies without regard for the risks of anarchy. "Dostoevsky suggests that the end result of abandoning morality for the sake of an idea of freedom will be a type of tyranny more extreme than any in the past."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray points to lessons from the novels of Dostoevsky about the danger of ideas.John Gray points to lessons from the novels of Dostoevsky about the danger of ideas such as misguided idealism sweeping away tyrannies without regard for the risks of anarchy. "Dostoevsky suggests that the end result of abandoning morality for the sake of an idea of freedom will be a type of tyranny more extreme than any in the past."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000562http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141121-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pcd5hcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04pcd5hSoylent and the Charm of the Fast LaneThe new food substitute Soylent allows you to give up eating meals in order to have more free time. But John Gray argues that human beings crave busy lives. We want to be distracted, he says, so we don't have to think too much.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray explores why human beings crave busy lives.The new food substitute Soylent allows you to give up eating meals in order to have more free time. But John Gray argues that human beings crave busy lives. We want to be distracted, he says, so we don't have to think too much.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 14 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000545http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141114-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04nvkkfcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04nvkkfCapitalism and the Myth of Social EvolutionJohn Gray reflects on why the advance of capitalism is not - as is widely believed - inevitable. He argues that social evolution is often unpredictable and that the "seemingly unstoppable advance of market forces" could well be halted by political decisions and the "random flux of human events".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray reflects on why the advance of capitalism is not inevitable.John Gray reflects on why the advance of capitalism is not - as is widely believed - inevitable. He argues that social evolution is often unpredictable and that the "seemingly unstoppable advance of market forces" could well be halted by political decisions and the "random flux of human events".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000563http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141107-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n695kcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04n695kCures for AnxietyAdam Gopnik identifies four different types of anxiety that afflict modern people and suggests ways to cure them. "The job of modern humanists is to do consciously what Conan Doyle did instinctively: to make the thrill of the ameliorative, the joy of small reliefs, of the case solved and mystery dissipated and the worry ended, for now - to make those things as sufficient to live by as they are good to experience."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik identifies four different types of anxiety that afflict modern people.Adam Gopnik identifies four different types of anxiety that afflict modern people and suggests ways to cure them. "The job of modern humanists is to do consciously what Conan Doyle did instinctively: to make the thrill of the ameliorative, the joy of small reliefs, of the case solved and mystery dissipated and the worry ended, for now - to make those things as sufficient to live by as they are good to experience."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000592http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141031-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04mhd5xcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04mhd5xA Lesson from Love LocksAdam Gopnik draws a poignant lesson on the nature of true love from the eyesore of love locks in Paris. "Love should never be symbolised by a shackle. Love - real love, good love, love to grow on rather than be trapped in - is a lock to which the key is always available."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik draws a lesson on the nature of love from the eyesore of love locks in Paris.Adam Gopnik draws a poignant lesson on the nature of true love from the eyesore of love locks in Paris. "Love should never be symbolised by a shackle. Love - real love, good love, love to grow on rather than be trapped in - is a lock to which the key is always available."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141024-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lsy13cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04lsy13The Football FallacyAdam Gopnik explains why the English are better at watching football than they are playing it and why the Americans are better at talking about democracy than they are at practising it.
"Call this the Constructive Fallacy of the Secondary Activity - or, perhaps, The Delusion of Mastery
through Proximity."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.Adam Gopnik explains why the English are better at watching football than at playing it.Adam Gopnik explains why the English are better at watching football than they are playing it and why the Americans are better at talking about democracy than they are at practising it.
"Call this the Constructive Fallacy of the Secondary Activity - or, perhaps, The Delusion of Mastery
through Proximity."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Richard Knight.Fri, 17 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000588http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141017-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04l3ly6cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04l3ly6Dying with DignityAdam Gopnik thinks we fail too often to let people die with dignity at the end of their lives and believes the answer lies in showing deference.
"Dignity, I think is an exceptional demand, one that depends on at least an illusion or masquerade of an anti-egalitarian, indeed pre-modern - indeed an essentially feudal sense - of deference."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnick thinks we fail all too often to let people die with dignity.Adam Gopnik thinks we fail too often to let people die with dignity at the end of their lives and believes the answer lies in showing deference.
"Dignity, I think is an exceptional demand, one that depends on at least an illusion or masquerade of an anti-egalitarian, indeed pre-modern - indeed an essentially feudal sense - of deference."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141010-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kfk2lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04kfk2lShort and SuccessfulAdam Gopnik thinks there's a simple reason for the recent findings that short men enjoy stable marriages. It's not that they are desperate to please, but are desperate to prevail. "In every area of life, we underrate the merits of desperation, and persistently overrate the advantages of free choice."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik thinks there is a simple reason why short men enjoy stable marriages.Adam Gopnik thinks there's a simple reason for the recent findings that short men enjoy stable marriages. It's not that they are desperate to please, but are desperate to prevail. "In every area of life, we underrate the merits of desperation, and persistently overrate the advantages of free choice."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000591http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20141003-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jmd8dcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04jmd8dKeeping TimeLisa Jardine reflects on the rich history of time-pieces and the power of clocks and watches.
"Each watch on display in the British Museum's Clocks and Watchers galleries speaks to me of a world galvanized by scientific innovation, whose horizons were expanding through voyages of discovery and the new objects and ideas brought back."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on the history of timepieces and the power of clocks and watches.Lisa Jardine reflects on the rich history of time-pieces and the power of clocks and watches.
"Each watch on display in the British Museum's Clocks and Watchers galleries speaks to me of a world galvanized by scientific innovation, whose horizons were expanding through voyages of discovery and the new objects and ideas brought back."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 26 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140926-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04hyxmjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04hyxmjRed Dress SenseThis season's fashion for red prompts Lisa Jardine to reflect on the past power of the colour.
"In Tudor England successive monarchs tried to define social status by dress. A strict code governed the wearing of 'costly apparel', and red was one of the colours most rigidly controlled."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Red may be now fashionable, but in the past it was powerful, reflects Lisa Jardine.This season's fashion for red prompts Lisa Jardine to reflect on the past power of the colour.
"In Tudor England successive monarchs tried to define social status by dress. A strict code governed the wearing of 'costly apparel', and red was one of the colours most rigidly controlled."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 19 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140919-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gyrk5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04gyrk5The Horror of WarLisa Jardine says while documenting and commemorating the First World War we should not lose sight of its horror. "Wars are not heroic, even if they prompt acts of heroism by soldiers and civilians. Our young people, raised in a Britain at peace for 70 years, need to know that."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine says commemorating a war should not mean losing sight of its horror.Lisa Jardine says while documenting and commemorating the First World War we should not lose sight of its horror. "Wars are not heroic, even if they prompt acts of heroism by soldiers and civilians. Our young people, raised in a Britain at peace for 70 years, need to know that."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000579http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140912-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gch0ccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04gch0cWhen fiction comes to the historian's rescueLisa Jardine explores how fiction can be more useful than fact in helping us understand the past.
She examines two works of fiction (a recent radio play "The Chemistry Between Them" and Michael Frayn's celebrated stage work, Copenhagen) to show how they often cast far more light on their respective subjects - and particularly the emotions and personal convictions involved - than that found in the history books.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Lisa Jardine on how fiction can be more useful than fact in helping us understand the pastLisa Jardine explores how fiction can be more useful than fact in helping us understand the past.
She examines two works of fiction (a recent radio play "The Chemistry Between Them" and Michael Frayn's celebrated stage work, Copenhagen) to show how they often cast far more light on their respective subjects - and particularly the emotions and personal convictions involved - than that found in the history books.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 05 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000579http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140905-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g1dw8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04g1dw8Why Orwell Is the Supreme MediocrityWill Self takes on one of the nation's best loved figures, George Orwell.....and braces himself for the backlash! "Not Orwell, surely!" he hears the listeners cry.
He uses Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" to make his point. This - he says - is often seen as "a principled assault upon all the jargon, obfuscation, and pretentiously Frenchified folderol that deforms our noble tongue". That - in Self's view - couldn't be farther from the truth.
Describing Orwell as a "Supreme Mediocrity", Self gets to work.....
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self takes on one of the nation's best-loved figures, George Orwell.Will Self takes on one of the nation's best loved figures, George Orwell.....and braces himself for the backlash! "Not Orwell, surely!" he hears the listeners cry.
He uses Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" to make his point. This - he says - is often seen as "a principled assault upon all the jargon, obfuscation, and pretentiously Frenchified folderol that deforms our noble tongue". That - in Self's view - couldn't be farther from the truth.
Describing Orwell as a "Supreme Mediocrity", Self gets to work.....
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140829-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04fchmdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04fchmdWhat's Funny?Will Self reflects on comedy, asking why we laugh and whether there's too much of the wrong type of humour in our culture.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.Will Self reflects on comedy, asking what really makes us laugh.Will Self reflects on comedy, asking why we laugh and whether there's too much of the wrong type of humour in our culture.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140822-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04dqwz2cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04dqwz2The Affliction of ConsumptionWill Self reflects on the power of modern day consumption and the effect it is having on us.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.Will Self reflects on the power of modern-day consumption and the effect it has on us.Will Self reflects on the power of modern day consumption and the effect it is having on us.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.Fri, 15 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000581http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140815-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d4w67cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04d4w67Believing in BeliefsWill Self offers a weekly reflection on a topical issue.Will Self offers a weekly reflection on a topical issue.Will Self offers a weekly reflection on a topical issue.Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000576http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140808-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04cfzxwcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04cfzxwThe Changing Nature of UtopiasWill Self reflects on what the changing nature of utopias says about us, from Thomas More's sixteenth century Utopia to the recent TV series of the same name. The utopias and dystopias of the past offer a range of different futuristic scenarios but, argues Will Self, they actually all have one thing in common: they're about each writer's present, not future. The late 19th century saw something of a craze in the publication of utopian fiction. Many novels were implicitly optimistic in that they imagined better futures, and some even spurred political movements as was the case with Edward Bellamy's 'Looking Backward 2000-1887'. But nowadays, at a time of man-made global warming, this optimism has dissipated, and our utopias are reduced to fairytales of the non-human, or involve less environmentally destructive species like fictional apes. Where we do imagine a human future, such as in the current TV series, it looks suspiciously dated.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Will Self reflects on what the changing nature of utopias says about us.Will Self reflects on what the changing nature of utopias says about us, from Thomas More's sixteenth century Utopia to the recent TV series of the same name. The utopias and dystopias of the past offer a range of different futuristic scenarios but, argues Will Self, they actually all have one thing in common: they're about each writer's present, not future. The late 19th century saw something of a craze in the publication of utopian fiction. Many novels were implicitly optimistic in that they imagined better futures, and some even spurred political movements as was the case with Edward Bellamy's 'Looking Backward 2000-1887'. But nowadays, at a time of man-made global warming, this optimism has dissipated, and our utopias are reduced to fairytales of the non-human, or involve less environmentally destructive species like fictional apes. Where we do imagine a human future, such as in the current TV series, it looks suspiciously dated.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140801-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bs0mkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04bs0mkIs patriotism the last refuge of the scoundrel?Republican or royalist we all need something or someone in which to invest our loyalty. Will Self reflects on what really lies behind our sense of patriotism. In Britain we invest the idea of sovereignty in an individual, namely the Queen - or rather, it is an idealisation of who she is decoupled for the living reality. The Queen, says Will Self, is unfailingly wise, calm, pacific - a true mother of the nation; and if her Government happens to do things that are at variance with her goodliness, that is only because their power is contingent upon an evanescent electoral mandate, while her shadow-power-play is founded upon time-out-of-mind heredity - and at least residually, upon the Lord's will. Patriotic Britons may be reluctant to admit to all of this, argues Self, preferring to be seen as modern and up-to-date, but if they examine their consciences carefully they're likely to concede that a discrete love-of-country object is required for full patriotic attachment.Will Self reflects on what really lies behind our sense of patriotism.Republican or royalist we all need something or someone in which to invest our loyalty. Will Self reflects on what really lies behind our sense of patriotism. In Britain we invest the idea of sovereignty in an individual, namely the Queen - or rather, it is an idealisation of who she is decoupled for the living reality. The Queen, says Will Self, is unfailingly wise, calm, pacific - a true mother of the nation; and if her Government happens to do things that are at variance with her goodliness, that is only because their power is contingent upon an evanescent electoral mandate, while her shadow-power-play is founded upon time-out-of-mind heredity - and at least residually, upon the Lord's will. Patriotic Britons may be reluctant to admit to all of this, argues Self, preferring to be seen as modern and up-to-date, but if they examine their consciences carefully they're likely to concede that a discrete love-of-country object is required for full patriotic attachment.Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140725-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04b30m5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04b30m5Believing in reason is childishSome critics of religion see having faith as being childish. But John Gray argues that believing that human beings are rational is more childish than believing in religion. The belief in the power of reason to improve humankind rests on childishly simple ideas he says. One of the commonest is that history's crimes are mistakes that can be avoided as we gain greater knowledge. But if history teaches us anything, Grey asserts, it's that behaviours and attitudes like cruelty and hatred are permanent human flaws. To imagine that we can become more rational is an example of magical thinking and an expression of the belief in the omnipotence of the human will that psychoanalysts identify as the fundamental infantile fantasy. John Gray believes that we'd all be better off if we saw ourselves as we are: intermittently and only ever partly rational creatures, who never really grow up.John Gray argues that the belief in human reason is more 'childish' than religious faith.Some critics of religion see having faith as being childish. But John Gray argues that believing that human beings are rational is more childish than believing in religion. The belief in the power of reason to improve humankind rests on childishly simple ideas he says. One of the commonest is that history's crimes are mistakes that can be avoided as we gain greater knowledge. But if history teaches us anything, Grey asserts, it's that behaviours and attitudes like cruelty and hatred are permanent human flaws. To imagine that we can become more rational is an example of magical thinking and an expression of the belief in the omnipotence of the human will that psychoanalysts identify as the fundamental infantile fantasy. John Gray believes that we'd all be better off if we saw ourselves as we are: intermittently and only ever partly rational creatures, who never really grow up.Fri, 18 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000554http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140718-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0499sphcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0499sphIsis: A modern revolutionary force?Philosopher and author John Gray argues that the Sunni extremist group Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is actually more of a modern revolutionary force than a reactionary one intent on a reversion to mediaeval values.
Surprising as this may sound says Gray, Isis is thoroughly modern. It's organised itself into an efficient company, and has become the wealthiest jihadi organisation in the world. And while it invokes the early history of Islam, the society it envisions has no precedent in history. Some of the thinkers who developed radical Islamist ideas are known to have been influenced by European anarchism and communism, especially by the idea that society can be reshaped by a merciless revolutionary vanguard using systematic violence. Isis is part of the revolutionary turmoil of modern times warns Gray, and until the West grasps that uncomfortable fact, it won't be able to deal with the dangers Isis presents.John Gray argues that the Sunni extremist group Isis is revolutionary, not reactionary.Philosopher and author John Gray argues that the Sunni extremist group Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is actually more of a modern revolutionary force than a reactionary one intent on a reversion to mediaeval values.
Surprising as this may sound says Gray, Isis is thoroughly modern. It's organised itself into an efficient company, and has become the wealthiest jihadi organisation in the world. And while it invokes the early history of Islam, the society it envisions has no precedent in history. Some of the thinkers who developed radical Islamist ideas are known to have been influenced by European anarchism and communism, especially by the idea that society can be reshaped by a merciless revolutionary vanguard using systematic violence. Isis is part of the revolutionary turmoil of modern times warns Gray, and until the West grasps that uncomfortable fact, it won't be able to deal with the dangers Isis presents.Fri, 11 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140711-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048nsnkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b048nsnkTo See OurselvesAL Kennedy argues that the British have much to gain from - in the words of Robert Burns - "seeing ourselves as others see us".
Referring to last week's row over the appointment of the new European Commission President, she writes: "the EU's view of Britain might be that we're always yelling in a corner about chips!"
An entertaining exploration of the down-sides of personal and national introspection.AL Kennedy explores the downsides of personal and national introspection.AL Kennedy argues that the British have much to gain from - in the words of Robert Burns - "seeing ourselves as others see us".
Referring to last week's row over the appointment of the new European Commission President, she writes: "the EU's view of Britain might be that we're always yelling in a corner about chips!"
An entertaining exploration of the down-sides of personal and national introspection.Fri, 04 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140704-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04807jlcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04807jlBattling the BotnetsIt's a tale of "shadowy white-hatted hackers, more shadowy black-hatted hackers and the possibility that the pricey electronic equipment lurking in our homes may not have our best interests at heart".
AL Kennedy reflects on the current spate of high-profile viruses that are threatening our computers ...invasive software that may be sending our bank details to criminals every time we connect to the internet.
She says as more sophisticated computers become part of more appliances, the potential for virus infection increases. So is it time, she asks, for us to rethink our devotion to these machines?
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy asks if it is time for us to rethink our devotion to computers.It's a tale of "shadowy white-hatted hackers, more shadowy black-hatted hackers and the possibility that the pricey electronic equipment lurking in our homes may not have our best interests at heart".
AL Kennedy reflects on the current spate of high-profile viruses that are threatening our computers ...invasive software that may be sending our bank details to criminals every time we connect to the internet.
She says as more sophisticated computers become part of more appliances, the potential for virus infection increases. So is it time, she asks, for us to rethink our devotion to these machines?
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000578http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140627-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047cdwtcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b047cdwtIf You Haven't Got Anything Nice to Say...AL Kennedy argues that our obsession with gossip is affecting our public discourse, and corrupting its content.
She traces the history of gossip, explores how gossip is edging out real news and how it's taken over our political lives.
"Gossip obscures truth" she writes, "sours our outlooks on each other and can trivialise any debate". She concludes that "we really could do with a lot less of it".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.AL Kennedy argues for a world with less gossip.AL Kennedy argues that our obsession with gossip is affecting our public discourse, and corrupting its content.
She traces the history of gossip, explores how gossip is edging out real news and how it's taken over our political lives.
"Gossip obscures truth" she writes, "sours our outlooks on each other and can trivialise any debate". She concludes that "we really could do with a lot less of it".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140620-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b046p4nccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b046p4ncNo Burning Required"Humanity's past thoughts are my inheritance" writes AL Kennedy. "I need them in order to learn how to prosper in the long term".
As more and more public libraries close their doors, AL Kennedy argues that we must reassess the importance of books.
She says library closures, culled GCSE reading lists, moves towards reducing prisoners' access to books are part of a "perfect storm" which means we're losing books on all sides.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.As libraries close, AL Kennedy argues that we must reassess the importance of books."Humanity's past thoughts are my inheritance" writes AL Kennedy. "I need them in order to learn how to prosper in the long term".
As more and more public libraries close their doors, AL Kennedy argues that we must reassess the importance of books.
She says library closures, culled GCSE reading lists, moves towards reducing prisoners' access to books are part of a "perfect storm" which means we're losing books on all sides.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140613-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0460znhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0460znhBring Back the Heptarchy!Scotland could become independent. So, asks Tom Shakespeare, should England consider returning to an earlier order - a heptarchy of seven independent jurisdictions?Tom Shakespeare asks if England should consider returning to an earlier order.Scotland could become independent. So, asks Tom Shakespeare, should England consider returning to an earlier order - a heptarchy of seven independent jurisdictions?Fri, 06 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140606-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045c66gcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b045c66gShould we be frightened of disability?Many people assume that disabled people must be unhappy. But the empirical evidence doesn't back this up. In A Point of View, Tom Shakespeare argues that disability is nothing to fear.Tom Shakespeare argues that we have nothing to fear from disability.Many people assume that disabled people must be unhappy. But the empirical evidence doesn't back this up. In A Point of View, Tom Shakespeare argues that disability is nothing to fear.Fri, 30 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140530-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b044jh7kcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b044jh7kWhy we should be religious but not spiritualA growing number of people are describing themselves as spiritual but not religious. This is not a trend of which Tom Shakespeare approves. In this week's Point of View he argues, rather, that we should be religious but not spiritual.Tom Shakespeare argues that we should be religious but not spiritual.A growing number of people are describing themselves as spiritual but not religious. This is not a trend of which Tom Shakespeare approves. In this week's Point of View he argues, rather, that we should be religious but not spiritual.Fri, 23 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140523-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04418mfcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04418mfTesting TimesAs hundreds of thousands of young people get ready to sit exams, Mary Beard reflects on exam season - past and present.
The Cambridge don describes how the "tough, engaging and intelligent young people" she has taught for years "suddenly morph into nervous wrecks, hanging a bit pathetically on your every word, as they have never, quite rightly, done before".
She talks about the extraordinary similarities between exams in the 1800s and today...the "curmudgeonly gloom that greeted the students' efforts" sounds very familiar.
Michael Gove and his friends - she suggests - might like to take note that complaints about poor performance have been around for quite some time!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on exam season - past and present.As hundreds of thousands of young people get ready to sit exams, Mary Beard reflects on exam season - past and present.
The Cambridge don describes how the "tough, engaging and intelligent young people" she has taught for years "suddenly morph into nervous wrecks, hanging a bit pathetically on your every word, as they have never, quite rightly, done before".
She talks about the extraordinary similarities between exams in the 1800s and today...the "curmudgeonly gloom that greeted the students' efforts" sounds very familiar.
Michael Gove and his friends - she suggests - might like to take note that complaints about poor performance have been around for quite some time!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 16 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140516-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04368ftcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b04368ftThe Paradox of Growing OldMary Beard reflects on recent TV programmes and newspaper articles about what's going on in care homes for the elderly.
She says she believes that in a few hundred years' time, "our treatment of old people will be as much of a blot on our culture as Bedlam and the madhouses were on the culture of the 18th century".
But she also argues that our view of dementia is a sanitized one. She says we have to recognize that dementia can make its sufferers truculent and aggressive...something that most of us - not just care workers on a minimum wage - would find very difficult to deal with.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard argues that our view of dementia is a sanitized one which needs to be rethoughtMary Beard reflects on recent TV programmes and newspaper articles about what's going on in care homes for the elderly.
She says she believes that in a few hundred years' time, "our treatment of old people will be as much of a blot on our culture as Bedlam and the madhouses were on the culture of the 18th century".
But she also argues that our view of dementia is a sanitized one. She says we have to recognize that dementia can make its sufferers truculent and aggressive...something that most of us - not just care workers on a minimum wage - would find very difficult to deal with.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 09 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000586http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140509-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042ls0jcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b042ls0jDigging Digitally"The archaeological wonders of today" writes Mary Beard "don't come from heroic subterranean exploration, still less from the efforts of teenagers with their spades and trowels in damp Shropshire fields. They are much more often 'virtual'".
Mary reflects on the new face of archaeology - far removed from the days of Heinrich Schliemann who famously claimed "to have gazed on the face of Agamemnon".
She traces the history of virtual archaeology from the early 1900s and admits "part of me thrills to the magic of the technology, and to the sheer bravura of displaying the plans of lost buildings, even lost towns, at the touch of a few buttons". She recognises it's far cheaper, quicker and leaves ruins where they are safest: under the ground.
But she also admits a feeling of nostalgia for the old ways. When she sees an exciting new discovery, "my heart just itches to get out my spade and my trowel and go and actually dig it up".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on the new face of archaeology, of the virtual kind."The archaeological wonders of today" writes Mary Beard "don't come from heroic subterranean exploration, still less from the efforts of teenagers with their spades and trowels in damp Shropshire fields. They are much more often 'virtual'".
Mary reflects on the new face of archaeology - far removed from the days of Heinrich Schliemann who famously claimed "to have gazed on the face of Agamemnon".
She traces the history of virtual archaeology from the early 1900s and admits "part of me thrills to the magic of the technology, and to the sheer bravura of displaying the plans of lost buildings, even lost towns, at the touch of a few buttons". She recognises it's far cheaper, quicker and leaves ruins where they are safest: under the ground.
But she also admits a feeling of nostalgia for the old ways. When she sees an exciting new discovery, "my heart just itches to get out my spade and my trowel and go and actually dig it up".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 02 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000574http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140502-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041yr94cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b041yr94Mile MilestoneMary Beard looks forward to the 60th anniversary of the first "four minute mile". But in the midst of the celebrations, she argues that we should also remember that Roger Bannister's victory was a "glaring display of class division".
Maybe appropriate then that this month also sees the return of that "wonderful working-class... comic-strip hero, Alf Tupper".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard looks forward to the 60th anniversary of the first 'four-minute mile'.Mary Beard looks forward to the 60th anniversary of the first "four minute mile". But in the midst of the celebrations, she argues that we should also remember that Roger Bannister's victory was a "glaring display of class division".
Maybe appropriate then that this month also sees the return of that "wonderful working-class... comic-strip hero, Alf Tupper".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140425-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0418xymcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0418xymTravel Writing GiantsWilliam Dalrymple celebrates the writing of Peter Matthiessen who died this month, comparing him with another of his favourite travel writers, Patrick Leigh Fermor. "Both were footloose scholars who left their studies and libraries to walk in the wild places of the world, erudite and bookish wanderers, scrambling through remote mountains, notebooks in hand, rucksacks full of good books on their shoulders."
Producer: Sheila Cook.William Dalrymple celebrates the writing of Peter Matthiessen, who died this month.William Dalrymple celebrates the writing of Peter Matthiessen who died this month, comparing him with another of his favourite travel writers, Patrick Leigh Fermor. "Both were footloose scholars who left their studies and libraries to walk in the wild places of the world, erudite and bookish wanderers, scrambling through remote mountains, notebooks in hand, rucksacks full of good books on their shoulders."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140418-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040lws7cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b040lws7A Tale of Two ElectionsWilliam Dalrymple reflects on the current pivotal elections in India and Afghanistan where religion, identity and economics will all help to determine the outcomes. Feeling a mixture of unease and optimism, he celebrates, nevertheless, the good news that "democracy is an unstoppable force in south and central Asia."
Producer: Sheila Cook.William Dalrymple reflects on the current pivotal elections in India and Afghanistan.William Dalrymple reflects on the current pivotal elections in India and Afghanistan where religion, identity and economics will all help to determine the outcomes. Feeling a mixture of unease and optimism, he celebrates, nevertheless, the good news that "democracy is an unstoppable force in south and central Asia."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140411-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0400qfhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0400qfhA Lenten ReflectionTaking Lent as his starting point, William Dalrymple contrasts the Christian view of Lent - with all its self-discipline and self-deprivation - with that represented in great Indian art.
He visits the painted caves of Ajanta, dating from the 2nd century BC, and seen as one of the most comprehensive depictions of civilised classical life that we have.
He describes their monasteries, adorned with "images of attractively voluptuous women....because in the eyes of the monks, this was completely appropriate decoration".
But Christianity - he says - "has always seen the human body as essentially sinful, lustful and shameful".
He charts how - throughout India's history - the arts have consistently celebrated the beauty of the human body seen, "not as some tainted appendage to be whipped into submission, but potentially the vehicle of divinity".
He argues that history can make us aware of "how contingent and bound by time, culture and geography so many of our preconceptions actually are".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.For Lent, William Dalrymple compares Eastern and Western views of self-discipline.Taking Lent as his starting point, William Dalrymple contrasts the Christian view of Lent - with all its self-discipline and self-deprivation - with that represented in great Indian art.
He visits the painted caves of Ajanta, dating from the 2nd century BC, and seen as one of the most comprehensive depictions of civilised classical life that we have.
He describes their monasteries, adorned with "images of attractively voluptuous women....because in the eyes of the monks, this was completely appropriate decoration".
But Christianity - he says - "has always seen the human body as essentially sinful, lustful and shameful".
He charts how - throughout India's history - the arts have consistently celebrated the beauty of the human body seen, "not as some tainted appendage to be whipped into submission, but potentially the vehicle of divinity".
He argues that history can make us aware of "how contingent and bound by time, culture and geography so many of our preconceptions actually are".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140404-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zdm6dcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03zdm6dA Disease Called FameSarah Dunant reflects on fame and the cult of celebrity following the recent success of the film "20 feet from Stardom".
The film about backing singers - the unsung heroes of pop music - scooped best documentary at the Oscars. Sarah discusses how celebrity culture has given us a society where the dream is no longer to be the backing singer, but to take centre stage. "Andy Warhol" she writes "with his fifteen minutes of fame, has turned out to be a prophet as much as an artist".
But "in a world where everyone wants to be the lead singer" she asks "who is left to swell the sound? Or more importantly to appreciate it".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant reflects on fame and the cult of celebrity, following 20 Feet From Stardom.Sarah Dunant reflects on fame and the cult of celebrity following the recent success of the film "20 feet from Stardom".
The film about backing singers - the unsung heroes of pop music - scooped best documentary at the Oscars. Sarah discusses how celebrity culture has given us a society where the dream is no longer to be the backing singer, but to take centre stage. "Andy Warhol" she writes "with his fifteen minutes of fame, has turned out to be a prophet as much as an artist".
But "in a world where everyone wants to be the lead singer" she asks "who is left to swell the sound? Or more importantly to appreciate it".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 28 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000610http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140328-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03yqz02cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03yqz02Heavy WeatherSarah Dunant compares our reaction today to climate change with responses in the seventeenth century to extreme weather.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant compares our reaction today to climate change with historic responses.Sarah Dunant compares our reaction today to climate change with responses in the seventeenth century to extreme weather.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140321-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03y3lkvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03y3lkvThe Time WarpSarah Dunant reflects that today's harsher judgement of some of the sexual behaviour prevalent in the 1970s springs in part from the freedom forged in that decade. "Without the seventies, we would never have had the debate, the public awareness, the sense of outrage or even the occasionally blunt tool of the law to judge the present and the past."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant reflects on our changed perceptions of the sexual attitudes of the 1970s.Sarah Dunant reflects that today's harsher judgement of some of the sexual behaviour prevalent in the 1970s springs in part from the freedom forged in that decade. "Without the seventies, we would never have had the debate, the public awareness, the sense of outrage or even the occasionally blunt tool of the law to judge the present and the past."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140314-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xgtsdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03xgtsdFree the SchoolsRoger Scruton believes the way to improve our schools is through tapping into the time and talents of middle class volunteers. "The philanthropic middle classes, who created our education system and made it one of the best in the world, have been for too long excluded from it".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton believes the way to improve schools is through middle-class volunteers.Roger Scruton believes the way to improve our schools is through tapping into the time and talents of middle class volunteers. "The philanthropic middle classes, who created our education system and made it one of the best in the world, have been for too long excluded from it".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140307-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03wsnx9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03wsnx9Our Love for AnimalsRoger Scruton thinks we get our priorities wrong when we favour pets at the expense of wild animals.
"We must recognise that by loving our pets as individuals we threaten the animals who cannot easily be loved in any such way."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Professor Roger Scruton warns against favouring pets at the expense of wild animals.Roger Scruton thinks we get our priorities wrong when we favour pets at the expense of wild animals.
"We must recognise that by loving our pets as individuals we threaten the animals who cannot easily be loved in any such way."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140228-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w3g6xcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03w3g6xUnited We FallRoger Scruton argues for a voice for the English in the debate over Scottish independence. "As an Englishman I naturally ask why my interests in the matter have never been taken into account."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Roger Scruton argues for a vote for the English in the debate over Scottish independence.Roger Scruton argues for a voice for the English in the debate over Scottish independence. "As an Englishman I naturally ask why my interests in the matter have never been taken into account."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000585http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140221-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vh0d3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03vh0d3Money MattersAdam Gopnik explains why he thinks the pictures on our banknotes matter. "The iconography of money is more than just decor - it displays the true convictions of the commonwealth that intends to support its value."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik explains why he thinks the pictures on our banknotes matter.Adam Gopnik explains why he thinks the pictures on our banknotes matter. "The iconography of money is more than just decor - it displays the true convictions of the commonwealth that intends to support its value."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000585http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140214-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ttmf8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03ttmf8Twitter-FreeAdam Gopnik explains his indifference to Twitter and social media. "After the introduction of a new device, or social media, our lives are exactly where they were before, save for the new thing or service, which we now cannot live without".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik explains his indifference to Twitter and social media.Adam Gopnik explains his indifference to Twitter and social media. "After the introduction of a new device, or social media, our lives are exactly where they were before, save for the new thing or service, which we now cannot live without".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140207-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t3dw3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03t3dw3Why Sportsmanship MattersAdam Gopnik reflects on the value of sportsmanship ahead of the American Super Bowl following controversy over a player's supposedly unsporting comments. "Sportsmanship is this day's triumph's salute to time...We will not always be the winner."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik reflects on the nature of sportsmanship ahead of the American Super Bowl.Adam Gopnik reflects on the value of sportsmanship ahead of the American Super Bowl following controversy over a player's supposedly unsporting comments. "Sportsmanship is this day's triumph's salute to time...We will not always be the winner."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140131-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sb5y8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03sb5y8Self-Drive ManhoodAdam Gopnik hails the development of the self-drive car as the way to rescue his male identity after years as a non driver. He also muses on the need for such cars to have "ethical engines" capable of moral judgements.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik hails the development of the self-drive car as the way to rescue his manhood.Adam Gopnik hails the development of the self-drive car as the way to rescue his male identity after years as a non driver. He also muses on the need for such cars to have "ethical engines" capable of moral judgements.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140124-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03qfzh9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03qfzh9Sex and the FrenchAdam Gopnik reflects on the attitude of the French to the sex lives of their statesmen and gives his opinion that the price of privilege is prudence. "Puritanical societies are less morally alert than ones like France that aren't, because the puritanical societies have the judgments prepackaged and their hypocrisies, too. Instead, in France, the moral rights and wrongs, I've learned, are adjudicated case by case."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Adam Gopnik reflects on the attitude of the French to the sex lives of their statesmen.Adam Gopnik reflects on the attitude of the French to the sex lives of their statesmen and gives his opinion that the price of privilege is prudence. "Puritanical societies are less morally alert than ones like France that aren't, because the puritanical societies have the judgments prepackaged and their hypocrisies, too. Instead, in France, the moral rights and wrongs, I've learned, are adjudicated case by case."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000593http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140117-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pmkzmcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03pmkzmUnknown KnownsJohn Gray reflects on "unknown knowns" - what we know but prefer not to think about, whether it's the truth about the invasion of Iraq or the failures of the financial system that led to the banking crisis. "We humans are sturdy and resilient animals with enormous capacities of creativity and adaptability; but consistently realistic thinking seems to be beyond our powers."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the things we know but prefer not to think about.John Gray reflects on "unknown knowns" - what we know but prefer not to think about, whether it's the truth about the invasion of Iraq or the failures of the financial system that led to the banking crisis. "We humans are sturdy and resilient animals with enormous capacities of creativity and adaptability; but consistently realistic thinking seems to be beyond our powers."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000539http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140110-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03nt8brcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03nt8brThe Perils of BeliefJohn Gray reflects on the damage that can be caused by evangelical belief in a religion or in a political idea. "Whether they are religious or political, evangelists seem to me a blight on civilisation. For them as for those they persecute or bully, belief is an obstacle to a fulfilling life."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the damage that can be caused by evangelical belief.John Gray reflects on the damage that can be caused by evangelical belief in a religion or in a political idea. "Whether they are religious or political, evangelists seem to me a blight on civilisation. For them as for those they persecute or bully, belief is an obstacle to a fulfilling life."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000562http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20140103-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mjcbycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03mjcbyTwo Cheers for Human RightsJohn Gray gives only two cheers for human rights. We are in danger, he argues, of turning them into a "comforting dogma through which we try to escape the painful dilemmas of war and politics."
"Rather than thinking of rights as a militant creed that can deliver the world from its conflicts, we should recognise rights for what they are - useful devices that quite often don't work.".John Gray gives only two cheers for human rights.John Gray gives only two cheers for human rights. We are in danger, he argues, of turning them into a "comforting dogma through which we try to escape the painful dilemmas of war and politics."
"Rather than thinking of rights as a militant creed that can deliver the world from its conflicts, we should recognise rights for what they are - useful devices that quite often don't work.".Sun, 29 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000561http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131227-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mckqlcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03mckqlIslamo-Christian HeritageIn the week when Prince Charles has drawn attention to violence against Christians in the Middle East, William Dalrymple says it's time to remember the "old and often forgotten co-habitation of Islam and Christianity".
"Christmas time is perhaps the proper moment to remember the long tradition of revering the nativity in the Islamic world. ...There are certainly major differences between the two faiths, not least the central fact, in mainstream Christianity, of Jesus' divinity. But Christmas - the ultimate celebration of Christ's humanity - is a feast which Muslims and Christians can share without reservation.".William Dalrymple reflects on the co-habitation of Islam and Christianity.In the week when Prince Charles has drawn attention to violence against Christians in the Middle East, William Dalrymple says it's time to remember the "old and often forgotten co-habitation of Islam and Christianity".
"Christmas time is perhaps the proper moment to remember the long tradition of revering the nativity in the Islamic world. ...There are certainly major differences between the two faiths, not least the central fact, in mainstream Christianity, of Jesus' divinity. But Christmas - the ultimate celebration of Christ's humanity - is a feast which Muslims and Christians can share without reservation.".Fri, 20 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000561http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131220-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lsdgzcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03lsdgzWhy Dickens EnduresJohn Gray gives his own theory for the cultural longevity of Charles Dickens, celebrating his view of life as a theatre of the absurd. "Dickens enjoyed human beings as he found them: unregenerate, peculiar and incorrigibly themselves."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray gives his own theory for the cultural longevity of Charles Dickens.John Gray gives his own theory for the cultural longevity of Charles Dickens, celebrating his view of life as a theatre of the absurd. "Dickens enjoyed human beings as he found them: unregenerate, peculiar and incorrigibly themselves."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000593http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131213-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03kvd5ccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03kvd5cIt's Always the Others Who DieWill Self reflects that our modern, secular society has silenced the voices of the dead. As a result, he argues, we fail to appreciate the sacred buildings, art and literature of the past.
"Having purged them on the basis that they can furnish no proof of their existence, do we not begin to undermine the capacity of that which they have left behind to also speak to us?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects that our modern secular society has silenced the voices of the dead.Will Self reflects that our modern, secular society has silenced the voices of the dead. As a result, he argues, we fail to appreciate the sacred buildings, art and literature of the past.
"Having purged them on the basis that they can furnish no proof of their existence, do we not begin to undermine the capacity of that which they have left behind to also speak to us?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000586http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131206-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03k2gr3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03k2gr3Political Trojan HorsesWill Self warns against politicians' superficially attractive policies which turn out to be Trojan horses. "It all comes down to gifts - presents that we save up for through the countrywide Christmas club we call progressive taxation, and which are then handed out by the jolly, hoho-ing Government in the form of public services."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self warns against politicians' policies which turn out to be Trojan horses.Will Self warns against politicians' superficially attractive policies which turn out to be Trojan horses. "It all comes down to gifts - presents that we save up for through the countrywide Christmas club we call progressive taxation, and which are then handed out by the jolly, hoho-ing Government in the form of public services."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 29 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131129-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03jfvg5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03jfvg5Rebuilding After 9/11Will Self reflects from the top of the new One World Trade Center in New York on the challenge of rebuilding after the destruction of 9.11.
"The downtown site, mired in ground sacred to mammon, has mixed into it a complex mulch of private rights and public responsibilities: to harmonise these competing interests in the frozen music of architecture has proved a gruelling compositional task.".Will Self gives a personal view of the new One World Trade Center in New York.Will Self reflects from the top of the new One World Trade Center in New York on the challenge of rebuilding after the destruction of 9.11.
"The downtown site, mired in ground sacred to mammon, has mixed into it a complex mulch of private rights and public responsibilities: to harmonise these competing interests in the frozen music of architecture has proved a gruelling compositional task.".Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000601http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131122-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hxlgdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03hxlgdSelf Confident CultureWill Self argues for greater British cultural self confidence in the debate over the wearing of the veil.
Apologies are not needed for an insistence on uncovered faces in court, he says, and the best safeguard against extremism is engagement with the Western philosophic tradition and its multicultural influences.
"Of course British culture will be changed by the cultures of our recent immigrants, but surely our greatest desideratum is precisely this: to be the heirs, possessors and transmitters of a legacy that is ready and able to adapt."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self argues for greater British cultural self-confidence in the debate over the veil.Will Self argues for greater British cultural self confidence in the debate over the wearing of the veil.
Apologies are not needed for an insistence on uncovered faces in court, he says, and the best safeguard against extremism is engagement with the Western philosophic tradition and its multicultural influences.
"Of course British culture will be changed by the cultures of our recent immigrants, but surely our greatest desideratum is precisely this: to be the heirs, possessors and transmitters of a legacy that is ready and able to adapt."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 15 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000572http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131115-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03h7gsrcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03h7gsrKennedy 50 Years OnWill Self reflects on America's view of the assassination of JF Kennedy, fifty years on. After years of talk of conspiracy, cover-up and doctored film footage, he concludes, "It isn't so much that the Kennedy assassination has transitioned smoothly into a commonsensical past; it's rather that it was the first instance of a peculiarly modern variant of the historic event: its media simulation".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on America's view of the assassination of JF Kennedy, 50 years on.Will Self reflects on America's view of the assassination of JF Kennedy, fifty years on. After years of talk of conspiracy, cover-up and doctored film footage, he concludes, "It isn't so much that the Kennedy assassination has transitioned smoothly into a commonsensical past; it's rather that it was the first instance of a peculiarly modern variant of the historic event: its media simulation".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 08 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000595http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131108-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ggrr5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03ggrr5Will Self: Pity the YoungWill Self reflects on the malign influence of the older generation on the young as the population of Britain ages. "In my darker moments - of which there are quite a few - I often envision the baby boomer generation as a giant and warty toad squatting on the youth of our society".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the malign influence of the older generation on the young.Will Self reflects on the malign influence of the older generation on the young as the population of Britain ages. "In my darker moments - of which there are quite a few - I often envision the baby boomer generation as a giant and warty toad squatting on the youth of our society".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 01 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000582http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131101-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03fftgxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03fftgxLisa Jardine: Reflections on IVFLisa Jardine reflects on the sensitive questions surrounding IVF as she comes to the end of her term as Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. "I would have loved to have been able to have spoken more often and more publicly, with more words of caution for those preparing to undertake IVF, or postponing their family because IVF seems a reliable option should natural conception fail."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on IVF as she stands down from the body which regulates it.Lisa Jardine reflects on the sensitive questions surrounding IVF as she comes to the end of her term as Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. "I would have loved to have been able to have spoken more often and more publicly, with more words of caution for those preparing to undertake IVF, or postponing their family because IVF seems a reliable option should natural conception fail."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 25 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131025-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03dvxyycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03dvxyyMachine IntelligenceLisa Jardine compares the contributions of Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing a century later to computer science and contrasts their views on the potential of and limits to machine intelligence.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine compares the computer science legacies of Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace.Lisa Jardine compares the contributions of Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing a century later to computer science and contrasts their views on the potential of and limits to machine intelligence.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131018-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03cv484cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03cv484Cross Border ScienceLisa Jardine reflects on the internationalism that underpins the progress of science in a week when individual nations celebrate their Nobel prize winners. "Science has always ignored national borders, in pursuit of the fullest possible understanding of nature."Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on the internationalism that underpins the progress of science.Lisa Jardine reflects on the internationalism that underpins the progress of science in a week when individual nations celebrate their Nobel prize winners. "Science has always ignored national borders, in pursuit of the fullest possible understanding of nature."Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 11 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131011-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03c49cjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03c49cjEthical ScienceLisa Jardine learned the story of Leo Szilard from her father who regarded him as an exemplary figure in science. Szilard, an Hungarian physicist, helped to develop the atom bomb, but later fought against its use. His story provides lessons about the relationship between science and human values - even though the version of the tale Lisa was taught turns out not to have been entirely true.Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine draws lessons from the career of Leo Szilard, who worked on the atom bomb.Lisa Jardine learned the story of Leo Szilard from her father who regarded him as an exemplary figure in science. Szilard, an Hungarian physicist, helped to develop the atom bomb, but later fought against its use. His story provides lessons about the relationship between science and human values - even though the version of the tale Lisa was taught turns out not to have been entirely true.Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 04 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000595http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20131004-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bsbbdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03bsbbdThe Horror of LoveStephen King says "Love creates horror." AL Kennedy agrees. "As someone who often says 'I think' and almost never says 'I feel', I don't personally welcome love's ability to make me fear not only for myself, but others," she writes.
But love makes us altruistic, humane. "We would find it bizarre if a parent was more worried about dropping a vase than dropping their baby - even a Ming vase and an ugly baby. An absence of love within a family or a relationship is taken as a sign of something having gone very wrong," she says.
"But an absence of love in the world we help construct around us, that's regarded as a form of common sense. We are used to making decisions - or having them made for us - which would save the vase and not the baby."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Stephen King says, 'Love creates horror.' AL Kennedy agrees.Stephen King says "Love creates horror." AL Kennedy agrees. "As someone who often says 'I think' and almost never says 'I feel', I don't personally welcome love's ability to make me fear not only for myself, but others," she writes.
But love makes us altruistic, humane. "We would find it bizarre if a parent was more worried about dropping a vase than dropping their baby - even a Ming vase and an ugly baby. An absence of love within a family or a relationship is taken as a sign of something having gone very wrong," she says.
"But an absence of love in the world we help construct around us, that's regarded as a form of common sense. We are used to making decisions - or having them made for us - which would save the vase and not the baby."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 27 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130927-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bg4wjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03bg4wjAL Kennedy: Someone to Watch Over MeAL Kennedy reflects on our tendency to behave badly when we think no-one's watching or when we follow the wrong crowd.
"When psychologists test how people behave with and without oversight, it becomes depressingly clear that if we think nobody's looking, we don't even remotely always let our consciences be our guides," she writes. "Even very normal, pleasant people can delegate their morality to other people who appear to be in charge, even of bizarre and disturbing scenarios."
Producer: Sheila Cook.AL Kennedy reflects on our tendency to behave badly when we think no-one is looking.AL Kennedy reflects on our tendency to behave badly when we think no-one's watching or when we follow the wrong crowd.
"When psychologists test how people behave with and without oversight, it becomes depressingly clear that if we think nobody's looking, we don't even remotely always let our consciences be our guides," she writes. "Even very normal, pleasant people can delegate their morality to other people who appear to be in charge, even of bizarre and disturbing scenarios."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130920-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03b2zbycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03b2zbyGreat PretendersAL Kennedy reflects on the stuggle to establish truth in what she regards as an age of lies. Lies, she says, are proliferating on TV, in politics, in business and throughout public and private life. Extracting truths in moral and effective ways, she argues, is an ever greater challenge.
Producer: Sheila Cook.AL Kennedy reflects on the stuggle to establish truth in an age of lies.AL Kennedy reflects on the stuggle to establish truth in what she regards as an age of lies. Lies, she says, are proliferating on TV, in politics, in business and throughout public and private life. Extracting truths in moral and effective ways, she argues, is an ever greater challenge.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130913-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039rwdbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b039rwdbReal ChangeFear of change can lead us astray. It can keep us from mercy. It can be used by authorities as an excuse for sticking with the status quo. It's a barrier to happiness. AL Kennedy doesn't like change. But she thinks perhaps she should change her mind.AL Kennedy doesn't like change. But she thinks she should change her atittude.Fear of change can lead us astray. It can keep us from mercy. It can be used by authorities as an excuse for sticking with the status quo. It's a barrier to happiness. AL Kennedy doesn't like change. But she thinks perhaps she should change her mind.Fri, 06 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000593http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130906-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039dbkncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b039dbknOf the People, By the People 4/4Roger Scruton concludes his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. "We in Europe are moving not towards democracy but away from it," he says.
"There is no first-person plural of which the European Institutions are the political expression," he argues. "The Union is founded in a treaty, and treaties derive their authority from the entities that sign them. Those entities are the nation states of Europe, from which the loyalties of the European people derive. The Union, which has set out to transcend those loyalties, therefore suffers from a permanent crisis of legitimacy.".Roger Scruton concludes his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy.Roger Scruton concludes his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. "We in Europe are moving not towards democracy but away from it," he says.
"There is no first-person plural of which the European Institutions are the political expression," he argues. "The Union is founded in a treaty, and treaties derive their authority from the entities that sign them. Those entities are the nation states of Europe, from which the loyalties of the European people derive. The Union, which has set out to transcend those loyalties, therefore suffers from a permanent crisis of legitimacy.".Fri, 30 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130830-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038zl3vcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b038zl3vOf the People, By the People 3/4Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. This week he argues that nations should be defined by language and territory rather than by party or faith. And, looking at examples across the Middle East and in particular in Egypt, he explains why - in his view - a modern state cannot be governed by Islamic law.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy.Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. This week he argues that nations should be defined by language and territory rather than by party or faith. And, looking at examples across the Middle East and in particular in Egypt, he explains why - in his view - a modern state cannot be governed by Islamic law.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130823-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038jl18cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b038jl18Of the People, By the People 2/4Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. Roger Scruton argues that democracy works only if we are prepared to be ruled by our opponents, however much we may dislike them. We need to accept politics as a process of compromise and conciliation. And for that, he says, the state must be secular.Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy.Roger Scruton continues his series of talks on the nature and limits of democracy. Roger Scruton argues that democracy works only if we are prepared to be ruled by our opponents, however much we may dislike them. We need to accept politics as a process of compromise and conciliation. And for that, he says, the state must be secular.Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000612http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130816-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0385n2pcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0385n2pRoger Scruton: Of the People, By the People 1/4Roger Scruton argues that democracy alone is not enough for political freedom. Democracy, freedom and human rights do not necessarily coincide.
"In the underground universities of communist Europe ... my friends and colleagues prepared themselves for the hoped for day when the Communist Party, having starved itself of all rational input, would finally give up the ghost," he says. "And the lessons that they learned need to be learned again today, as our politicians lead us forth under the banner of democracy, without pausing to examine what democracy actually requires.".Roger Scruton argues that democracy alone is not enough for political freedom.Roger Scruton argues that democracy alone is not enough for political freedom. Democracy, freedom and human rights do not necessarily coincide.
"In the underground universities of communist Europe ... my friends and colleagues prepared themselves for the hoped for day when the Communist Party, having starved itself of all rational input, would finally give up the ghost," he says. "And the lessons that they learned need to be learned again today, as our politicians lead us forth under the banner of democracy, without pausing to examine what democracy actually requires.".Fri, 09 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000612http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130809-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037vb15cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b037vb15Machiavelli's Summer in TuscanyIt's exactly 500 years this summer since Niccolo Machiavelli wrote his famous book 'The Prince', on how to gain and retain political power. Sarah Dunant takes us back to the hot Tuscan summer when Machiavelli put down his thoughts, including the view that in politics, virtue must be tempered by expediency.
He based his thesis on what he'd witnessed during his career as a diplomat and adviser in Florence, and also on lessons learned from Ancient Greek and Roman historians.
While fortune had smiled on him during the fourteen years he served the Florentine Republic, it stopped doing so when the Medicis were restored and he was imprisoned and tortured. Released into exile on his family's estate south of Florence, he started writing the book that became a foundation of political theory.
In a further twist of fortune, his exile, far from being his ruin, made his name for posterity. He was never completely rehabilitated in Florence, but ended up writing one of the most provocative and influential political works of all time.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Sarah Dunant on why Machiavelli wrote his seminal work 'The Prince' one summer in Tuscany.It's exactly 500 years this summer since Niccolo Machiavelli wrote his famous book 'The Prince', on how to gain and retain political power. Sarah Dunant takes us back to the hot Tuscan summer when Machiavelli put down his thoughts, including the view that in politics, virtue must be tempered by expediency.
He based his thesis on what he'd witnessed during his career as a diplomat and adviser in Florence, and also on lessons learned from Ancient Greek and Roman historians.
While fortune had smiled on him during the fourteen years he served the Florentine Republic, it stopped doing so when the Medicis were restored and he was imprisoned and tortured. Released into exile on his family's estate south of Florence, he started writing the book that became a foundation of political theory.
In a further twist of fortune, his exile, far from being his ruin, made his name for posterity. He was never completely rehabilitated in Florence, but ended up writing one of the most provocative and influential political works of all time.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000610http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130802-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037jnl7cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b037jnl7Reforming Catholicism in 140 CharactersSarah Dunant says Pope Francis should use his Twitter account to demonstrate that he's prepared to deal with the 'mess' inside the Catholic Church. Perhaps, she says, with this Tweet, he's already started: 'If we wish to follow Christ closely, we cannot choose an easy, quiet life'.Sarah Dunant suggests what Pope Francis should tell his Twitter followers.Sarah Dunant says Pope Francis should use his Twitter account to demonstrate that he's prepared to deal with the 'mess' inside the Catholic Church. Perhaps, she says, with this Tweet, he's already started: 'If we wish to follow Christ closely, we cannot choose an easy, quiet life'.Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130726-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03775gxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b03775gxA Big Day for Bert and Ernie?The recent New Yorker cover showing Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie as a gay couple, delighted by the American Supreme Court ruling that the Defence of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, prompts Sarah Dunant to reflect on the power of cartoons to convey social messages.
"Those cartoon characters - or their puppet equivalents - which touch us at our most formative moments of early childhood will become part of the bedrock of our cultural belonging."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant reflects on the power of a cartoon showing Bert and Ernie as a gay couple.The recent New Yorker cover showing Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie as a gay couple, delighted by the American Supreme Court ruling that the Defence of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, prompts Sarah Dunant to reflect on the power of cartoons to convey social messages.
"Those cartoon characters - or their puppet equivalents - which touch us at our most formative moments of early childhood will become part of the bedrock of our cultural belonging."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 19 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130719-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036wgjgcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b036wgjgA Sporting CatharsisAs Britain basks in post-Wimbledon glory, amid the Ashes, Sarah Dunant reflects on how sport has - throughout history - been used by the authorities to help populations let off steam.
In Florence, in the late 1500s, townspeople played a form of football that allowed them to wrestle, punch and immobilize their opponents in any way they liked. Venice had a spectacularly violent sport of bridge-fighting where opposing teams "armed with sticks...dipped in boiling oil beat the hell out of each other".
Civic sporting therapy - past and present - has for centuries, Sarah argues, "proved a creative alternative to our recurring tendency to kill each other".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.A week after Wimbledon, amid the Ashes, Sarah Dunant reflects on sport's cathartic power.As Britain basks in post-Wimbledon glory, amid the Ashes, Sarah Dunant reflects on how sport has - throughout history - been used by the authorities to help populations let off steam.
In Florence, in the late 1500s, townspeople played a form of football that allowed them to wrestle, punch and immobilize their opponents in any way they liked. Venice had a spectacularly violent sport of bridge-fighting where opposing teams "armed with sticks...dipped in boiling oil beat the hell out of each other".
Civic sporting therapy - past and present - has for centuries, Sarah argues, "proved a creative alternative to our recurring tendency to kill each other".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000591http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130712-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036l8xzcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b036l8xzGender MattersAt a party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the feminist press Virago last week, writes Sarah Dunant, the current head of the company told the story of how one night she asked one of Virago's founders why she had started the company. "To change the world of course" was the reply.
Forty years on, Sarah, a Virago author herself, wonders just how much Virago has changed the world.
She talks about how, a few weeks ago, as she waited for an hour in the studio of the Today Programme to be interviewed for a piece about female characters in fiction, she didn't hear a single women's voice.
She tells how last month, the Australian writer and academic, Kathryn Heyman, got into a very public spat with The London Review of Books because of a dearth of women writers in its pages.
And the ousting of Julia Gillard as Australia's Prime Minister last week is the most striking example that Virago's mission is not yet complete.
But Sarah takes some comfort from the fact that Kevin Rudd, the new PM, has an unprecedented six new women in his cabinet.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant reflects on feminism and the ousting of Australia's prime minister.At a party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the feminist press Virago last week, writes Sarah Dunant, the current head of the company told the story of how one night she asked one of Virago's founders why she had started the company. "To change the world of course" was the reply.
Forty years on, Sarah, a Virago author herself, wonders just how much Virago has changed the world.
She talks about how, a few weeks ago, as she waited for an hour in the studio of the Today Programme to be interviewed for a piece about female characters in fiction, she didn't hear a single women's voice.
She tells how last month, the Australian writer and academic, Kathryn Heyman, got into a very public spat with The London Review of Books because of a dearth of women writers in its pages.
And the ousting of Julia Gillard as Australia's Prime Minister last week is the most striking example that Virago's mission is not yet complete.
But Sarah takes some comfort from the fact that Kevin Rudd, the new PM, has an unprecedented six new women in his cabinet.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130705-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0368rfdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0368rfdAnyone for Art?Isn't it time to democratize art? Shouldn't we, the public, be allowed to borrow works of art from our national collections? That way we could have an affair with art, rather than a one-night stand. Tom Shakespeare presents the last of his four essays.Tom Shakespeare presents the last of his four essays. Isn't it time to democratize art?Isn't it time to democratize art? Shouldn't we, the public, be allowed to borrow works of art from our national collections? That way we could have an affair with art, rather than a one-night stand. Tom Shakespeare presents the last of his four essays.Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000596http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130628-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yqh8lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b02yqh8lA Midsummer DaydreamIn Britain many of our holidays and festivals are rather dull - bank holidays for example. Tom Shakespeare, presenting the third of his four essays, says that when he looks at other cultures he feels a strong sense of festival envy. He wants Britain to have better festivals. To start with, shouldn't we celebrate Midsummer?Shouldn't we in Britain have better festivals? Shouldn't we celebrate Midsummer?In Britain many of our holidays and festivals are rather dull - bank holidays for example. Tom Shakespeare, presenting the third of his four essays, says that when he looks at other cultures he feels a strong sense of festival envy. He wants Britain to have better festivals. To start with, shouldn't we celebrate Midsummer?Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000593http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130621-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02x9f5tcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b02x9f5tFly, Fish, Mouse and Worm"When I was a child, one of my favourite books was Bear, Mouse and Water Beetle," says Tom Shakespeare. "Today, I want to tell you a contemporary story, which you could call Fly, Fish, Mouse and Worm."
These 'model animals' help scientists to understand the basic processes common to all living creatures. But while model animals epitomize the success of the scientific strategy of reductionism, they may also illustrate the downside.Tom Shakespeare on 'model animals' and the success of the reductionism scientific strategy"When I was a child, one of my favourite books was Bear, Mouse and Water Beetle," says Tom Shakespeare. "Today, I want to tell you a contemporary story, which you could call Fly, Fish, Mouse and Worm."
These 'model animals' help scientists to understand the basic processes common to all living creatures. But while model animals epitomize the success of the scientific strategy of reductionism, they may also illustrate the downside.Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000595http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130614-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02qt7wqcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b02qt7wqCan Compassion Be Taught?Tom Shakespeare presents the first of his four essays. There have been several recent scandals in the health service, with appalling cases of abuse and neglect coming to light. Not surprisingly, this has led to calls for people in the medical profession to be taught compassion. But Tom is sceptical. This week he asks whether compassion can and should be taught.Tom Shakespeare asks if compassion can be taught, in the first of his four essays.Tom Shakespeare presents the first of his four essays. There have been several recent scandals in the health service, with appalling cases of abuse and neglect coming to light. Not surprisingly, this has led to calls for people in the medical profession to be taught compassion. But Tom is sceptical. This week he asks whether compassion can and should be taught.Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130607-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b021439gcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b021439gGatsby: The Perfect FakeJohn Gray finds new resonance for our own age in the story of "the Great Gatsby". "Just as in the Roaring Twenties, we've lived through a boom that was mostly based on make-believe - easy money, inflated assets and financial skulduggery." "We want nothing more than to revive the fake prosperity that preceded the crash. Just like Gatsby, we want to return to a world that was conjured into being from dreams."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray finds new resonance for our own age in the story of 'The Great Gatsby'.John Gray finds new resonance for our own age in the story of "the Great Gatsby". "Just as in the Roaring Twenties, we've lived through a boom that was mostly based on make-believe - easy money, inflated assets and financial skulduggery." "We want nothing more than to revive the fake prosperity that preceded the crash. Just like Gatsby, we want to return to a world that was conjured into being from dreams."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130531-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01snykkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01snykkThe Doors of PerceptionJohn Gray argues for another way of perceiving the world inspired by the fantasy fiction writer Arthur Machen. Instead of believing that meaning in life can only be found by changing things around us, "Some of the most valuable human experiences, Machen observed, come about when we simply look around us without any intention of acting on what we see. He thought of the world as a kind of text in invisible writing, a cipher pointing to another order of things"
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray argues for another way of seeing the world, inspired by writer Arthur Machen.John Gray argues for another way of perceiving the world inspired by the fantasy fiction writer Arthur Machen. Instead of believing that meaning in life can only be found by changing things around us, "Some of the most valuable human experiences, Machen observed, come about when we simply look around us without any intention of acting on what we see. He thought of the world as a kind of text in invisible writing, a cipher pointing to another order of things"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000572http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130524-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sjn66cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01sjn66The Meaning of EvilJohn Gray turns to the writer Patricia Highsmith and her character Tom Ripley for a perspective on the meaning of evil. "For me she's ....one of the great twentieth century writers with a deep insight into the fragility of morality."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray turns to the writer Patricia Highsmith for a perspective on the meaning of evil.John Gray turns to the writer Patricia Highsmith and her character Tom Ripley for a perspective on the meaning of evil. "For me she's ....one of the great twentieth century writers with a deep insight into the fragility of morality."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000587http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130517-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sdw2vcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01sdw2vThe Myth of ModernityJohn Gray draws on the novels of Mervyn Peake to argue it's a mistake to imagine that modernity marks a fundamental change in human experience. "The modern world is founded on the belief that it's possible for human beings to shape a future that's better than anything in the past. If the Gormenghast novels have any continuing theme, it's that this modern belief is an illusion."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray draws on the novels of Mervyn Peake to expose the myth of modernity.John Gray draws on the novels of Mervyn Peake to argue it's a mistake to imagine that modernity marks a fundamental change in human experience. "The modern world is founded on the belief that it's possible for human beings to shape a future that's better than anything in the past. If the Gormenghast novels have any continuing theme, it's that this modern belief is an illusion."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130510-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s8vw9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01s8vw9The Limits of MaterialismJohn Gray draws on a story by Walter de la Mare to argue that the prevailing creed of scientific materialism is a "simple minded philosophy", preferring de la Mare's unsettling portrayal of everyday existence as insubstantial and unknowable. "Even if there are such things as laws of nature, there's no reason to think they must be accessible to the human mind."
Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray draws on Walter de la Mare to argue against the creed of scientific materialism.John Gray draws on a story by Walter de la Mare to argue that the prevailing creed of scientific materialism is a "simple minded philosophy", preferring de la Mare's unsettling portrayal of everyday existence as insubstantial and unknowable. "Even if there are such things as laws of nature, there's no reason to think they must be accessible to the human mind."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130503-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s4vfscleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01s4vfsJohn Gray: Bitcoin's Cyber FreedomJohn Gray wonders what the rise of the cyber currency Bitcoin tells us about our human need for freedom and protection, "The dream of finding some kind of talisman, a benevolent tyrant or a magical new technology, that can shelter us from power and crime and protect us from each other." Producer: Sheila Cook.John Gray wonders what the rise of the cyber currency Bitcoin tells us about ourselves.John Gray wonders what the rise of the cyber currency Bitcoin tells us about our human need for freedom and protection, "The dream of finding some kind of talisman, a benevolent tyrant or a magical new technology, that can shelter us from power and crime and protect us from each other." Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130426-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s0ssjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01s0ssjAdam Gopnik: On Children Leaving HomeAdam Gopnik's son is about to leave home. His suitcase is already packed. It's not a day Adam is looking forward to. Why is love between parents and their children so asymmetric, he wonders? Why do parents love their children infinitely - while children feel about their parents, at best, a mix of affection, pity, tolerance and forgiveness?Adam Gopnik reflects on the terrible day when children leave home.Adam Gopnik's son is about to leave home. His suitcase is already packed. It's not a day Adam is looking forward to. Why is love between parents and their children so asymmetric, he wonders? Why do parents love their children infinitely - while children feel about their parents, at best, a mix of affection, pity, tolerance and forgiveness?Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130419-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rw8yjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01rw8yjScience, Magic and MadnessWhat is the difference between magic and science? What is the difference between Galileo and his contemporary, the famous Elizabethan astrologer and alchemist John Dee? According to Adam Gopnik it's the experimental method - the looking and seeing and testing that goes with true science. But when he wrote about this recently he found that fervent members of the John Dee fan club disagreed.Adam Gopnik on the difference between magic and science.What is the difference between magic and science? What is the difference between Galileo and his contemporary, the famous Elizabethan astrologer and alchemist John Dee? According to Adam Gopnik it's the experimental method - the looking and seeing and testing that goes with true science. But when he wrote about this recently he found that fervent members of the John Dee fan club disagreed.Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130412-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rrd9ccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01rrd9cThe Irrationality of NationsEvery nation has a core irrationality - a belief about itself which no amount of contrary evidence can shift - says Adam Gopnik. Adam tries to uncover the core irrationality of the four nations he knows best: the United States, France, Canada and the UK.Topical issues. Every nation has a core irrationality, or so says Adam Gopnik.Every nation has a core irrationality - a belief about itself which no amount of contrary evidence can shift - says Adam Gopnik. Adam tries to uncover the core irrationality of the four nations he knows best: the United States, France, Canada and the UK.Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130405-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rlsw7cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01rlsw7The secret of a happy marriageAdam Gopnik reflects on what makes a happy marriage. Darwin, Gopnik writes, when first thinking about marriage, made a list of pros and cons. Cons included the expense and anxiety of children and the odd truth that a married man could never go up in a balloon.
On the plus side, he noted, marriage provided a constant companion and friend in old age and, memorably, that a wife would be better than a dog.
Gopnik's own formula for a happy marriage is lust, laughter and loyalty.
Via Samuel Beckett, Monty Python and The Big Lebowski, Gopnik concludes that loyalty is a much-underrated quality. Loyalty is not, he argues, a passive state that holds two people together when all else has failed.
Rather, he explains, loyalty is a wholly active state, as a new family dog has demonstrated. Dogs are there, he writes, "to remind us that loyalty is a jumpy, fizzy emotion - loyalty leaps up at the door and barks with joy at your return, and then immediately goes back to sleep at your side".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik presents his formula for a happy marriage - lust, laughter and loyalty.Adam Gopnik reflects on what makes a happy marriage. Darwin, Gopnik writes, when first thinking about marriage, made a list of pros and cons. Cons included the expense and anxiety of children and the odd truth that a married man could never go up in a balloon.
On the plus side, he noted, marriage provided a constant companion and friend in old age and, memorably, that a wife would be better than a dog.
Gopnik's own formula for a happy marriage is lust, laughter and loyalty.
Via Samuel Beckett, Monty Python and The Big Lebowski, Gopnik concludes that loyalty is a much-underrated quality. Loyalty is not, he argues, a passive state that holds two people together when all else has failed.
Rather, he explains, loyalty is a wholly active state, as a new family dog has demonstrated. Dogs are there, he writes, "to remind us that loyalty is a jumpy, fizzy emotion - loyalty leaps up at the door and barks with joy at your return, and then immediately goes back to sleep at your side".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000598http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130329-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rgm7hcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01rgm7hTurkish notions"Lately I've been thinking a lot about the Turk", writes Adam Gopnik. He's talking - not of the Ottomans - but the famous chess playing machine constructed in the late 18th century.
A mechanical figure of a bearded man, dressed in Turkish clothing, appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent. It was - in fact - a mechanical illusion that allowed a human chess master hiding inside to operate the machine.
It was a sensation. But the players inside were nothing more than good chess players.
"We always over estimate the space between the uniquely good and the very good", Gopnik writes. "We worship one tennis player as uniquely gifted, failing to see that the runners-up, who we scoff at as perpetual losers, are themselves fantastically gifted and accomplished, that the inept footballer we whistle at in despair is a better football player than we have ever seen or ever will meet".
As some of the world's top chess players battle it out in London in the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, Adam Gopnik reflects on why we overrate masters and underrate mastery.Adam Gopnik reflects on why we overrate masters and underrate mastery."Lately I've been thinking a lot about the Turk", writes Adam Gopnik. He's talking - not of the Ottomans - but the famous chess playing machine constructed in the late 18th century.
A mechanical figure of a bearded man, dressed in Turkish clothing, appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent. It was - in fact - a mechanical illusion that allowed a human chess master hiding inside to operate the machine.
It was a sensation. But the players inside were nothing more than good chess players.
"We always over estimate the space between the uniquely good and the very good", Gopnik writes. "We worship one tennis player as uniquely gifted, failing to see that the runners-up, who we scoff at as perpetual losers, are themselves fantastically gifted and accomplished, that the inept footballer we whistle at in despair is a better football player than we have ever seen or ever will meet".
As some of the world's top chess players battle it out in London in the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, Adam Gopnik reflects on why we overrate masters and underrate mastery.Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000576http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130322-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r9wdccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01r9wdcCelestial BodiesWhen two spectacular comets appeared in the night sky in 1664 and 1665, many feared they were harbingers of doom. Not long afterwards, the Great Plague and the Great Fire were visited on London.
Lisa Jardine has been looking upwards this week in an attempt to catch sight of the Pan-Starrs comet, which is thought to have been hurtling towards the sun for millions of years. Later this year, another comet is expected to grace our skies.
Her concern is not that they might bring with them a modern day plague, but whether we have learned the lessons early astronomers taught us about sharing scientific information.Lisa Jardine reflects on comets and the lessons to be learned from early astronomers.When two spectacular comets appeared in the night sky in 1664 and 1665, many feared they were harbingers of doom. Not long afterwards, the Great Plague and the Great Fire were visited on London.
Lisa Jardine has been looking upwards this week in an attempt to catch sight of the Pan-Starrs comet, which is thought to have been hurtling towards the sun for millions of years. Later this year, another comet is expected to grace our skies.
Her concern is not that they might bring with them a modern day plague, but whether we have learned the lessons early astronomers taught us about sharing scientific information.Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130315-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r5r5lcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01r5r5lDame Mary CartwrightLisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of the mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright, the first woman mathematician to be elected to the Royal Society.
During World War Two, she responded to a request from the British government to address an issue with early and still-secret radar systems. Together with her colleague Professor J. E. Littlewood, they were able to help war-time radar engineers circumvent a problem that was making radar unreliable.
Her findings were not fully understood by her peers at first. It would take a generation before mathematicians realised that her discoveries were the foundation of what became a new field of science: chaos theory.
Dame Mary Cartwright was very modest and did not want eulogies at her funeral, but Lisa Jardine takes the opportunity of International Woman's Day to blow Dame Mary's trumpet on her behalf.Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of wartime mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright.Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of the mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright, the first woman mathematician to be elected to the Royal Society.
During World War Two, she responded to a request from the British government to address an issue with early and still-secret radar systems. Together with her colleague Professor J. E. Littlewood, they were able to help war-time radar engineers circumvent a problem that was making radar unreliable.
Her findings were not fully understood by her peers at first. It would take a generation before mathematicians realised that her discoveries were the foundation of what became a new field of science: chaos theory.
Dame Mary Cartwright was very modest and did not want eulogies at her funeral, but Lisa Jardine takes the opportunity of International Woman's Day to blow Dame Mary's trumpet on her behalf.Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000584http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130308-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r14vccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01r14vcModern MedicisLisa Jardine celebrates the influence of art connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon and reflects on the impact of wealthy art collectors on public taste and government policy.
"Art collectors with a fortune to spend inevitably exert an influence on artistic taste and on the art market. The question is: Is a collector who wins public praise for having a "good eye" or "flawless taste" being celebrated for their critical astuteness in identifying a neglected work's lasting aesthetic value and its importance within the artistic tradition? Or are they simply establishing a high competitive price for that artist or artistic school?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine celebrates the influence of art connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon.Lisa Jardine celebrates the influence of art connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon and reflects on the impact of wealthy art collectors on public taste and government policy.
"Art collectors with a fortune to spend inevitably exert an influence on artistic taste and on the art market. The question is: Is a collector who wins public praise for having a "good eye" or "flawless taste" being celebrated for their critical astuteness in identifying a neglected work's lasting aesthetic value and its importance within the artistic tradition? Or are they simply establishing a high competitive price for that artist or artistic school?"
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130301-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qwk43cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01qwk43The Winter QueenLisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of Elizabeth of Bohemia, the "Winter Queen", and sees her relegation to the margins of history, "despite the pivotal role she played in international politics throughout much of the seventeenth century", as a reflection of our failure to recognise and value powerful women.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine celebrates Elizabeth of Bohemia, who deserves a larger place in history.Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of Elizabeth of Bohemia, the "Winter Queen", and sees her relegation to the margins of history, "despite the pivotal role she played in international politics throughout much of the seventeenth century", as a reflection of our failure to recognise and value powerful women.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130222-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qm2k4cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01qm2k4In Praise of BirminghamDavid Cannadine defends his home city of Birmingham against a slur in Jane Austen's "Emma" as, "not a place to promise much", by celebrating its heritage and its current cultural renaissance.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine defends Birmingham against a slur in Jane Austen's Emma.David Cannadine defends his home city of Birmingham against a slur in Jane Austen's "Emma" as, "not a place to promise much", by celebrating its heritage and its current cultural renaissance.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130215-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qkqtwcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01qkqtwGrand Central celebrationDavid Cannadine celebrates the saving of New York's now century old Grand Central Terminal and regrets the destruction of the city's other great beaux-arts station. "Many New Yorkers... had initially opposed, and subsequently regretted, the wanton destruction of Penn station as a deplorable act of civic irresponsibility and cultural philistinism."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine celebrates the saving of New York's century-old Grand Central station.David Cannadine celebrates the saving of New York's now century old Grand Central Terminal and regrets the destruction of the city's other great beaux-arts station. "Many New Yorkers... had initially opposed, and subsequently regretted, the wanton destruction of Penn station as a deplorable act of civic irresponsibility and cultural philistinism."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000610http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130208-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qfm00cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01qfm00The Love of BearsDavid Cannadine reflects on the enduring appeal of the teddy bear in contemporary culture. Why, he wonders, have they been such popular toys and featured so prominently in literature and song since they were first named after Theodore Roosevelt over a hundred years ago.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the enduring appeal of the teddy bear in contemporary culture.David Cannadine reflects on the enduring appeal of the teddy bear in contemporary culture. Why, he wonders, have they been such popular toys and featured so prominently in literature and song since they were first named after Theodore Roosevelt over a hundred years ago.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000548http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130201-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q97tvcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01q97tvPresidential InaugurationsDavid Cannadine reflects on the history of American presidential inaugurations since Abraham Lincoln's, and compares presidents' speeches at the start of their first and second terms in office. "Second inaugurals...are often less up-beat and up-lifting, since it's no longer possible for a president, having already been four years in office, to offer a new deal or to proclaim, as President Obama did in 2009 that 'change is coming to America'".
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the history of American presidential inaugurations.David Cannadine reflects on the history of American presidential inaugurations since Abraham Lincoln's, and compares presidents' speeches at the start of their first and second terms in office. "Second inaugurals...are often less up-beat and up-lifting, since it's no longer possible for a president, having already been four years in office, to offer a new deal or to proclaim, as President Obama did in 2009 that 'change is coming to America'".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130125-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q03qxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01q03qxUrban DesignsWill Self laments what he sees as an absence of rational urban planning in our big cities and a fashion for dramatic skyscrapers driven by short term commercial values. "It occurred to me that the contemporary metropolitan skyline is really only a fireworks display of decades-long duration: a burst of aerial illumination intended to provoke awe, but doomed eventually to subside into darkness."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self laments what he sees as an absence of rational urban planning in our big cities.Will Self laments what he sees as an absence of rational urban planning in our big cities and a fashion for dramatic skyscrapers driven by short term commercial values. "It occurred to me that the contemporary metropolitan skyline is really only a fireworks display of decades-long duration: a burst of aerial illumination intended to provoke awe, but doomed eventually to subside into darkness."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130118-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pw5vpcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01pw5vpTerminal ThoughtsWill Self wants to "nudge society in the direction of considering suicide acceptable" when the alternative is a slow and painful end. "I don't say any of these things idly," he writes, "like many of us in middle age, my last few years have been heavily marked by an increasing awareness of both my own mortality and that of those who I love."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self wants to 'nudge society in the direction of considering suicide acceptable'.Will Self wants to "nudge society in the direction of considering suicide acceptable" when the alternative is a slow and painful end. "I don't say any of these things idly," he writes, "like many of us in middle age, my last few years have been heavily marked by an increasing awareness of both my own mortality and that of those who I love."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000584http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130111-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ppq0ccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ppq0cAmerican AmbivalenceWill Self looks back over 2012 and reflects on the confused relationship between Britain and the US. Love and hate, he argues, are there in equal measure.
Taking as his starting point the Tom Stoppard plays his American mother took him to see in the 1970s, he says our relationship with our friends across the pond has changed little in 40 years.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self reflects on the confused love-hate relationship between Britain and the US.Will Self looks back over 2012 and reflects on the confused relationship between Britain and the US. Love and hate, he argues, are there in equal measure.
Taking as his starting point the Tom Stoppard plays his American mother took him to see in the 1970s, he says our relationship with our friends across the pond has changed little in 40 years.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20130106-0900.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pnlsycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01pnlsyWill Self: The British Vomitorium"Are you full yet? Stuffed? Fit to burst?" asks Will Self as he appeals to the post-Christmas glutton to consider a major lifestyle change in the year ahead.
"What I think we should all do", he says, "is throw up our very obsession with food itself, and enter the New Year purged".
He takes us on a tour of foodie history, and explores how we've gone from being a culinary backwater to "the most food-obsessed nation in Europe - if not the world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.With the excesses of Christmas behind us, Will Self appeals for a major lifestyle change."Are you full yet? Stuffed? Fit to burst?" asks Will Self as he appeals to the post-Christmas glutton to consider a major lifestyle change in the year ahead.
"What I think we should all do", he says, "is throw up our very obsession with food itself, and enter the New Year purged".
He takes us on a tour of foodie history, and explores how we've gone from being a culinary backwater to "the most food-obsessed nation in Europe - if not the world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000585http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121228-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pglsbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01pglsbEconomics PriesthoodWill Self warns against the false prophets of the new priesthood of economics who base their analyses and predictions on "spurious notions of human behaviour". "In place of the vulgate we require the holy books of economics to be written in the language we actually speak, and along with this we should actively seek a liberty of individual conscience, so that we communicate directly with Mammon, freed from the intercession of a priesthood who, when not arguing about how many angels can be fitted on the head of a pin, are spending our money producing elegant but utterly spurious mathematical models of possible future angel-on-pin scenarios."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self warns against the false prophets of the new priesthood of economics.Will Self warns against the false prophets of the new priesthood of economics who base their analyses and predictions on "spurious notions of human behaviour". "In place of the vulgate we require the holy books of economics to be written in the language we actually speak, and along with this we should actively seek a liberty of individual conscience, so that we communicate directly with Mammon, freed from the intercession of a priesthood who, when not arguing about how many angels can be fitted on the head of a pin, are spending our money producing elegant but utterly spurious mathematical models of possible future angel-on-pin scenarios."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121221-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pcwrccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01pcwrcDigital PastWill Self reflects on the effect of digital technology on his perception of the passage of time. "Perhaps the reason I feel quite so liberated from the present while more and more attached, not to the individually recalled 'good old days', but to a collectively attested and ever-present past, is because the hard drive of my computer is overloaded with digital images of the places I've been and the people I've met, all of them time-coded to within a tenth of a second."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the effect of digital technology on his perception of time.Will Self reflects on the effect of digital technology on his perception of the passage of time. "Perhaps the reason I feel quite so liberated from the present while more and more attached, not to the individually recalled 'good old days', but to a collectively attested and ever-present past, is because the hard drive of my computer is overloaded with digital images of the places I've been and the people I've met, all of them time-coded to within a tenth of a second."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121214-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p7hf3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01p7hf3Trustworthiness Before TrustOnora O'Neill reflects afresh on questions of trust, a decade after her Reith lectures on the subject. She argues that rather than asking, "how can we restore trust" in general, following recent scandals and failures, we should ask specific, practical questions about how better to measure trustworthiness. "Placing and refusing trust intelligently is not a matter of finding guarantees or proofs; we often have to assess complex and incomplete evidence, which the masters of spin and PR may be massaging to make things look better than they are." Systems of accountability or transparency can be ineffective or even counter-productive whereas easily assessable communication is "important and often indispensable."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Onora O'Neill reflects anew on the theme of trust, the subject of her Reith lectures.Onora O'Neill reflects afresh on questions of trust, a decade after her Reith lectures on the subject. She argues that rather than asking, "how can we restore trust" in general, following recent scandals and failures, we should ask specific, practical questions about how better to measure trustworthiness. "Placing and refusing trust intelligently is not a matter of finding guarantees or proofs; we often have to assess complex and incomplete evidence, which the masters of spin and PR may be massaging to make things look better than they are." Systems of accountability or transparency can be ineffective or even counter-productive whereas easily assessable communication is "important and often indispensable."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121207-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p457tcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01p457tAre students getting their money's worth?Mary Beard reflects on why universities are being consumed by "customer satisfaction" surveys.
"When you're paying up to £9000 a year for the privilege of being at university, you want to make it pretty clear if you feel you're not getting your money's worth", she writes.
But the deluge of forms - asking students for their views on the content, presentation, organisation of the course and the quality of the handouts will - she argues, do little to improve "the learning experience".
She admits having a "tweak of nostalgia for that old era before the tick-box, when brave students would tell their famous professors to their face that their lectures were rubbish"!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on why 'customer satisfaction' surveys have no place in universities.Mary Beard reflects on why universities are being consumed by "customer satisfaction" surveys.
"When you're paying up to £9000 a year for the privilege of being at university, you want to make it pretty clear if you feel you're not getting your money's worth", she writes.
But the deluge of forms - asking students for their views on the content, presentation, organisation of the course and the quality of the handouts will - she argues, do little to improve "the learning experience".
She admits having a "tweak of nostalgia for that old era before the tick-box, when brave students would tell their famous professors to their face that their lectures were rubbish"!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121130-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p0vw6cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01p0vw6On Pompeii"Last weekend I spent a couple of hours with the remains of one of the human victims of the eruption of Vesuvius" writes Mary Beard, as she wanders through the rooms of a new exhibition about Pompeii, the "City of the Dead".
The display at the J Paul Getty museum in Malibu is one of several Pompeii exhibitions running in different museums around the world - and very similar to one coming to the British Museum in the spring.
As she makes her way through the bodies - or "anti-bodies" as she refers to them - she ponders questions of privacy, archaeology and restoration.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard ponders the rights and wrongs of archaeological restoration."Last weekend I spent a couple of hours with the remains of one of the human victims of the eruption of Vesuvius" writes Mary Beard, as she wanders through the rooms of a new exhibition about Pompeii, the "City of the Dead".
The display at the J Paul Getty museum in Malibu is one of several Pompeii exhibitions running in different museums around the world - and very similar to one coming to the British Museum in the spring.
As she makes her way through the bodies - or "anti-bodies" as she refers to them - she ponders questions of privacy, archaeology and restoration.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121123-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ny0frcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ny0frMary Beard: Age of ConsentProducer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on the arbitrary nature of some laws, including the age of consent.Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 16 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000598http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121116-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ntm31cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ntm31Rich man, poor manMary Beard on the long history of the rich looking down their noses - sometimes with a hearty Roman snort - at the poor.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard on the long history of the rich looking down their noses at the poor.Mary Beard on the long history of the rich looking down their noses - sometimes with a hearty Roman snort - at the poor.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121109-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nq50gcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01nq50gUnderstanding Contemporary China 4/4Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In his final talk, he asks how the undemocratic Chinese state can enjoy legitimacy and authority in the eyes of its population. He argues that the Chinese state is held in such high esteem because it is seen as the embodiment, protector and guardian of Chinese civilization. The state is seen as an intimate, a member of the family indeed - in fact, the head of the family. It is a remarkable institution which will come to exercise interest and fascination outside China.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.How can the undemocratic Chinese state enjoy authority in the eyes of its population?Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In his final talk, he asks how the undemocratic Chinese state can enjoy legitimacy and authority in the eyes of its population. He argues that the Chinese state is held in such high esteem because it is seen as the embodiment, protector and guardian of Chinese civilization. The state is seen as an intimate, a member of the family indeed - in fact, the head of the family. It is a remarkable institution which will come to exercise interest and fascination outside China.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121102-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nlby1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01nlby1Who are the Chinese? 3/4Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its history, development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In this third talk, he explores the nature of race in China. Over 90 per cent of the Chinese population regard themselves as belonging to the same race, the Han. This is a stark contrast to the multi-racial composition of the world's other populous states. Chinese ethnic identity stems from a process of integration and of cultural identity. What defines the Chinese above all is a sense of cultural achievement. Martin Jacques argues that the Han identity has provided the glue which has held China together and has given the Chinese people an admirable confidence. But this strong sense of pride in who they are can also have a downside: a tendency to look down on others.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Nina Robinson.In his third talk on understanding China, Martin Jacques explores the nature of race.Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its history, development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In this third talk, he explores the nature of race in China. Over 90 per cent of the Chinese population regard themselves as belonging to the same race, the Han. This is a stark contrast to the multi-racial composition of the world's other populous states. Chinese ethnic identity stems from a process of integration and of cultural identity. What defines the Chinese above all is a sense of cultural achievement. Martin Jacques argues that the Han identity has provided the glue which has held China together and has given the Chinese people an admirable confidence. But this strong sense of pride in who they are can also have a downside: a tendency to look down on others.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Nina Robinson.Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121026-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ngrxdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ngrxdWhat Will China Be Like as a Superpower? 2/4In this second talk, he examines the tributary system, the historical China-centric network of international relations which involved other parts of East Asia accepting the principle of Chinese superiority in return for protection and access to the Chinese market, an arrangement distinct to European forms of colonialism. He asks whether a system of this kind is now re-emerging.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Rosamund Jones.In his second talk on understanding China, Martin Jacques examines the tributary system.In this second talk, he examines the tributary system, the historical China-centric network of international relations which involved other parts of East Asia accepting the principle of Chinese superiority in return for protection and access to the Chinese market, an arrangement distinct to European forms of colonialism. He asks whether a system of this kind is now re-emerging.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.
Producer: Rosamund Jones.Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121019-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nbtb9cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01nbtb9Understanding Contemporary China 1/4Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In this introductory talk, he argues that we cannot make sense of China by looking at it through a Western prism. China is not like a Western nation-state and never will be. Western nations are countries constituted on the basis of nation, China is a country constituted on the basis of a civilization. The consequences are profound and far-reaching.
In his second talk, he examines the tributary system, the historical China-centric network of international relations which involved other parts of East Asia accepting the principle of Chinese superiority in return for protection and access to the Chinese market, an arrangement distinct to European forms of colonialism. He asks whether a system of this kind is now re-emerging.
In his third talk, he explores the nature of race in China. Over 90 per cent of the Chinese population regard themselves as belonging to the same race, the Han. This is a stark contrast to the multi-racial composition of the world's other populous states. Chinese ethnic identity stems from a process of integration and of cultural identity. What defines the Chinese above all is pride in their culture and a sense of cultural achievement. The advantage of the Han identity is that it is the cement that has held China together. The disadvantage is a weak understanding of and respect for ethnic and cultural differences.
In his final talk, he asks how the undemocratic Chinese state can enjoy legitimacy and authority in the eyes of its population. He argues that the Chinese state is held in such high esteem because it is seen as the embodiment, protector and guardian of Chinese civilization. The state is seen as an intimate, a member of the family indeed - in fact, the head of the family. It is a remarkable institution which will come to exercise interest and fascination outside China.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand contemporary China.Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
In this introductory talk, he argues that we cannot make sense of China by looking at it through a Western prism. China is not like a Western nation-state and never will be. Western nations are countries constituted on the basis of nation, China is a country constituted on the basis of a civilization. The consequences are profound and far-reaching.
In his second talk, he examines the tributary system, the historical China-centric network of international relations which involved other parts of East Asia accepting the principle of Chinese superiority in return for protection and access to the Chinese market, an arrangement distinct to European forms of colonialism. He asks whether a system of this kind is now re-emerging.
In his third talk, he explores the nature of race in China. Over 90 per cent of the Chinese population regard themselves as belonging to the same race, the Han. This is a stark contrast to the multi-racial composition of the world's other populous states. Chinese ethnic identity stems from a process of integration and of cultural identity. What defines the Chinese above all is pride in their culture and a sense of cultural achievement. The advantage of the Han identity is that it is the cement that has held China together. The disadvantage is a weak understanding of and respect for ethnic and cultural differences.
In his final talk, he asks how the undemocratic Chinese state can enjoy legitimacy and authority in the eyes of its population. He argues that the Chinese state is held in such high esteem because it is seen as the embodiment, protector and guardian of Chinese civilization. The state is seen as an intimate, a member of the family indeed - in fact, the head of the family. It is a remarkable institution which will come to exercise interest and fascination outside China.
Martin Jacques is the author of 'When China Rules the World'.Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121012-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n6vp4cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01n6vp4Presenting the PastSarah Dunant reflects on the role of history in society - and how it changes over time. Research and archaeology, as well as the views of the times in which historians live, change their perception of the past. Dunant also asks what historical fiction takes from academic study - and what it, in turn, can teach those who study the past. She also asks whether the humanities are as valued as they should be. Do we underrate them at our peril?
Producer Rosamund Jones.Sarah Dunant reflects on the role of history in society, and how it changes over time.Sarah Dunant reflects on the role of history in society - and how it changes over time. Research and archaeology, as well as the views of the times in which historians live, change their perception of the past. Dunant also asks what historical fiction takes from academic study - and what it, in turn, can teach those who study the past. She also asks whether the humanities are as valued as they should be. Do we underrate them at our peril?
Producer Rosamund Jones.Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20121005-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n1vwmcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01n1vwmMouthing Off"For moneyed Americans", writes Sarah Dunant "perfect dentistry is a matter of course". For Europeans- and she counts herself within that number - the situation is rather different!
Sarah takes a sideways look at teeth through the ages...and dentistry in times of austerity.
And for those whose chief loathing is a mouthful of shining American teeth, she offers hope. "Yaeba", the latest craze to hit Japan where young fashonista girls are getting their teeth cosmetically altered to appear more crooked!
Producer Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant takes a look at teeth through the ages, and dentistry in times of austerity."For moneyed Americans", writes Sarah Dunant "perfect dentistry is a matter of course". For Europeans- and she counts herself within that number - the situation is rather different!
Sarah takes a sideways look at teeth through the ages...and dentistry in times of austerity.
And for those whose chief loathing is a mouthful of shining American teeth, she offers hope. "Yaeba", the latest craze to hit Japan where young fashonista girls are getting their teeth cosmetically altered to appear more crooked!
Producer Adele Armstrong.Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120928-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx2tlcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01mx2tlSweet charity"Much of what some would call my eccentric wardrobe derives from charity shops...By temperament, I'm a historian and the sense of an object with a provenance somehow ties me more securely to the present" writes Sarah Dunant.
As she rummages for bargains in her local charity shop, Sarah reflects on the history of charity shops and their growing importance in times of austerity.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant reflects on the growing importance of charity shops in times of austerity."Much of what some would call my eccentric wardrobe derives from charity shops...By temperament, I'm a historian and the sense of an object with a provenance somehow ties me more securely to the present" writes Sarah Dunant.
As she rummages for bargains in her local charity shop, Sarah reflects on the history of charity shops and their growing importance in times of austerity.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120921-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mqr5scleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01mqr5sIn Search of PrizesAs the Man Booker shortlist is published, Sarah Dunant explores how new writers and readers find each other.
"While an unhappy 19th century Russian marriage which leads to a fatal adulterous affair may be irresistible to one reader" she writes, "a man who wakes up as a beetle may be what presses the button of another. That is both the wonder and nightmare of selling novels".
Sarah explores how - in the "brutal climate" facing the publishing industry (with the onslaught of supermarket and internet price wars) - literary prizes provide a much needed boost for authors.
But these prizes, she warns, are a kind of lottery.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant explores the merit of literary prizes as the Man Booker shortlist is revealedAs the Man Booker shortlist is published, Sarah Dunant explores how new writers and readers find each other.
"While an unhappy 19th century Russian marriage which leads to a fatal adulterous affair may be irresistible to one reader" she writes, "a man who wakes up as a beetle may be what presses the button of another. That is both the wonder and nightmare of selling novels".
Sarah explores how - in the "brutal climate" facing the publishing industry (with the onslaught of supermarket and internet price wars) - literary prizes provide a much needed boost for authors.
But these prizes, she warns, are a kind of lottery.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120914-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ml0ntcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ml0ntPolicing Sex"Once again the snake pit of policing sexual behaviour and the conflict between men and women's attitudes of it have become news" writes Sarah Dunant.
She discusses the remarks by the American would-be senator who claimed that after "legitimate rape", women's bodies protect them from pregnancy. She looks at George Galloway's assertion that what Julian Assange did or didn't do in bed was simple bad sexual etiquette. And she discusses the controversy surrounding Fifty Shades of Grey.
She starts from a very personal perspective, and broadens the debate on attitudes to sex by looking at it from an historical perspective. She concludes that a storm of female outrage serves only to stifle debate and that men must be involved in the discussions.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Sarah Dunant looks at attitudes to sexual behaviour from a historical perspective."Once again the snake pit of policing sexual behaviour and the conflict between men and women's attitudes of it have become news" writes Sarah Dunant.
She discusses the remarks by the American would-be senator who claimed that after "legitimate rape", women's bodies protect them from pregnancy. She looks at George Galloway's assertion that what Julian Assange did or didn't do in bed was simple bad sexual etiquette. And she discusses the controversy surrounding Fifty Shades of Grey.
She starts from a very personal perspective, and broadens the debate on attitudes to sex by looking at it from an historical perspective. She concludes that a storm of female outrage serves only to stifle debate and that men must be involved in the discussions.
Producer Adele Armstrong.Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120907-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mf83xcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01mf83xThe alchemy of memoryJohn Gray explores the role of memory in giving meaning to our lives. Through the writings of J.G. Ballard, he reflects on how we struggle to preserve our past but at the same time sometimes long to leave it behind.
Gray praises the power of Ballard's imagination - and his enchanting fables - to make good all this.
His conclusion is upbeat. "Through the alchemy of memory the leaden buildings in which [Ballard] wandered as a boy became the golden vistas of his fiction, and the traumas of his childhood were transmuted into images of fulfilment".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.John Gray explores the role of memory in giving meaning to our lives.John Gray explores the role of memory in giving meaning to our lives. Through the writings of J.G. Ballard, he reflects on how we struggle to preserve our past but at the same time sometimes long to leave it behind.
Gray praises the power of Ballard's imagination - and his enchanting fables - to make good all this.
His conclusion is upbeat. "Through the alchemy of memory the leaden buildings in which [Ballard] wandered as a boy became the golden vistas of his fiction, and the traumas of his childhood were transmuted into images of fulfilment".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 31 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000568http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120831-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m6d0dcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01m6d0dThe trouble with 'freedom'"We like to tell ourselves an uplifting story in which freedom expands whenever tyranny is overthrown" writes John Gray. "We believe that...when a dictator is toppled the result is not only a more accountable type of government but also greater liberty throughout society".
But Gray believes otherwise. Using the nineteenth century liberal John Stuart Mill and his god-son Bertrand Russell, he advances his argument that liberty is one thing, democracy another.
"The reality" he says "is that when a tyrant is toppled we can't know what will come next".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.John Gray looks at the relationship between freedom and democracy."We like to tell ourselves an uplifting story in which freedom expands whenever tyranny is overthrown" writes John Gray. "We believe that...when a dictator is toppled the result is not only a more accountable type of government but also greater liberty throughout society".
But Gray believes otherwise. Using the nineteenth century liberal John Stuart Mill and his god-son Bertrand Russell, he advances his argument that liberty is one thing, democracy another.
"The reality" he says "is that when a tyrant is toppled we can't know what will come next".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000528http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120824-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m19p7cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01m19p7Sherlock Holmes and the Romance of ReasonJohn Gray reflects on the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes at a time when we've lost confidence in the power of reason alone to solve problems. "Seeming to find order in the chaos of events by using purely rational methods, he actually demonstrates the enduring power of magic."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes' powers of deduction.John Gray reflects on the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes at a time when we've lost confidence in the power of reason alone to solve problems. "Seeming to find order in the chaos of events by using purely rational methods, he actually demonstrates the enduring power of magic."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000583http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120817-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lv7z1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01lv7z1Climate for CultureJohn Gray reflects on the climate needed for culture to thrive, recalling Orson Welles' quote from the film "The Third Man" that despotism in Italy produced the Renaissance whereas democracy in Switzerland produced the cuckoo clock."We know that art can flourish under despots but we're reluctant to admit it: if creativity and tyranny can co-exist, the value of freedom seems diminished."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the climate needed for culture to thrive.John Gray reflects on the climate needed for culture to thrive, recalling Orson Welles' quote from the film "The Third Man" that despotism in Italy produced the Renaissance whereas democracy in Switzerland produced the cuckoo clock."We know that art can flourish under despots but we're reluctant to admit it: if creativity and tyranny can co-exist, the value of freedom seems diminished."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000579http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120810-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ljwsncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ljwsnPrice of a Postage StampThe philosopher John Gray wonders what bulk buying of stamps ahead of the price rise tells us about economic gloom. "The relative security that many people enjoyed in the recent past is fading from memory".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Philosopher John Gray wonders what bulk buying of stamps tells us about economic gloom.The philosopher John Gray wonders what bulk buying of stamps ahead of the price rise tells us about economic gloom. "The relative security that many people enjoyed in the recent past is fading from memory".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000556http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120803-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l8rc1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01l8rc1The Paradox of ImmortalityThe philosopher John Gray reflects on the nature of immortality as expressed by the writer Theodore Powys, 'The longest life may fade and perish but one moment can live and become immortal.' "Powys captures a paradox at the heart of our thinking about death and the afterlife: there's a kind of immortality that only mortals can enjoy."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the paradox of immortality as captured by the writer Theodore Powys.The philosopher John Gray reflects on the nature of immortality as expressed by the writer Theodore Powys, 'The longest life may fade and perish but one moment can live and become immortal.' "Powys captures a paradox at the heart of our thinking about death and the afterlife: there's a kind of immortality that only mortals can enjoy."
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000563http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120727-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l1ggbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01l1ggbKeynes' InsightsJohn Gray takes a fresh look at the thinking of John Maynard Keynes and wonders what he would have really thought about the current economic crises and how to solve them. "It's still Keynes from who we have most to learn. Not Keynes, the economic engineer, who is invoked by his disciples today. It's Keynes the sceptic, who understood that markets are as prone to fits of madness as any other human institution and who tried to envision a more intelligent variety of capitalism".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.John Gray takes a fresh look at the thinking of John Maynard Keynes.John Gray takes a fresh look at the thinking of John Maynard Keynes and wonders what he would have really thought about the current economic crises and how to solve them. "It's still Keynes from who we have most to learn. Not Keynes, the economic engineer, who is invoked by his disciples today. It's Keynes the sceptic, who understood that markets are as prone to fits of madness as any other human institution and who tried to envision a more intelligent variety of capitalism".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120720-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kt7m8cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01kt7m8Why humans are violentJohn Gray reflects on the nature of violence which he sees as an inevitable part of the human condition. He analyses the impulses which drive us to fight one another and takes issue with the philosopher Hobbes' view that violence can be tamed principally by the use of reason. "The vast industrial style wars of the last century may have been left behind, but they have been followed by other forms of human conflict, in their way no less destructive".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.John Gray reflects on the nature of violence as an inevitable part of the human condition.John Gray reflects on the nature of violence which he sees as an inevitable part of the human condition. He analyses the impulses which drive us to fight one another and takes issue with the philosopher Hobbes' view that violence can be tamed principally by the use of reason. "The vast industrial style wars of the last century may have been left behind, but they have been followed by other forms of human conflict, in their way no less destructive".
Producer:
Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000582http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120713-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kktmxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01kktmxThe curse of a ridiculous name"I have a funny name. I know it," Adam Gopnik starts out. "Don't say it isn't or try to make me feel better about it...If I ever google myself, I find myself as often as not as Adam Gropnik."
He explains its unglamorous origins and it's contemporary Russian connotations of meaning "a drunken hooligan".
But the trouble is, he says "like every writer, I would like my writing to last". Little chance of that with a name like Gopnik, he believes. He bemoans why he hasn't a name like Jane Austen or Anthony Trollope.
Writers are, he believes, condemned to greatness or otherwise, by their names. The great exception is William Shakespeare, whose ridiculous surname - much mocked in his day - is now part of everyday speech.
Via a detour through name history, he reaches the conclusion that his fate is fixed. "I shall remain and say goodbye -- and then vanish as a, and A., Gopnik".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik muses on life when - like him - you've been lumbered with a funny name."I have a funny name. I know it," Adam Gopnik starts out. "Don't say it isn't or try to make me feel better about it...If I ever google myself, I find myself as often as not as Adam Gropnik."
He explains its unglamorous origins and it's contemporary Russian connotations of meaning "a drunken hooligan".
But the trouble is, he says "like every writer, I would like my writing to last". Little chance of that with a name like Gopnik, he believes. He bemoans why he hasn't a name like Jane Austen or Anthony Trollope.
Writers are, he believes, condemned to greatness or otherwise, by their names. The great exception is William Shakespeare, whose ridiculous surname - much mocked in his day - is now part of everyday speech.
Via a detour through name history, he reaches the conclusion that his fate is fixed. "I shall remain and say goodbye -- and then vanish as a, and A., Gopnik".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000582http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120706-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kbm19cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01kbm19Nazis - Gopnik's AmendmentAdam Gopnik reflects on our continuing obsession with the Nazis and ponders the place of the Second World War in our history.
He writes: "A German friend once complained to me that educated Westerners often know far more about the German government in those five years of war than they do about all German governments in the sixty years of subsequent peace".
Adam quotes a principle frequently used during internet discussions called "Godwin's Law". It states that "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler gets greater". Godwin's conclusion - broadly speaking - is that we should not mention the war.
But Adam proposes what he calls "Gopnik's Amendment". "When we see the three serpents of militarism, nationalism and hatred of difference we should never be afraid to call them out, loudly, by name and remind ourselves and other people, even more loudly still, of exactly what they have made happen in the past".
We should, he says, "never be afraid to mention the war".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik reflects on our continuing obsession with the Nazis.Adam Gopnik reflects on our continuing obsession with the Nazis and ponders the place of the Second World War in our history.
He writes: "A German friend once complained to me that educated Westerners often know far more about the German government in those five years of war than they do about all German governments in the sixty years of subsequent peace".
Adam quotes a principle frequently used during internet discussions called "Godwin's Law". It states that "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler gets greater". Godwin's conclusion - broadly speaking - is that we should not mention the war.
But Adam proposes what he calls "Gopnik's Amendment". "When we see the three serpents of militarism, nationalism and hatred of difference we should never be afraid to call them out, loudly, by name and remind ourselves and other people, even more loudly still, of exactly what they have made happen in the past".
We should, he says, "never be afraid to mention the war".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120629-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01k2f8wcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01k2f8wWhat to do about a bad reviewAdam Gopnik ruminates on how to handle a bad review.
He ponders the various options. The first is to ignore it and claim the high moral ground, "the Big Ignore" he calls it. The second is to write a late night letter - or three - to the offending publication. But he now has a third option - passed on by a friend just the other evening - which he promises will produce delightful results.
An amusing guide on how to get your own back on your critics.
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik ruminates on how to handle a bad review.Adam Gopnik ruminates on how to handle a bad review.
He ponders the various options. The first is to ignore it and claim the high moral ground, "the Big Ignore" he calls it. The second is to write a late night letter - or three - to the offending publication. But he now has a third option - passed on by a friend just the other evening - which he promises will produce delightful results.
An amusing guide on how to get your own back on your critics.
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000587http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120622-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jxw57cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01jxw57Beatle Time"There is something eerie, fated, cosmic about the Beatles" writes Adam Gopnik. "They appear in public as a unit on August 22nd 1969 and disappear as a unit, Mary Poppins like, exactly seven years later".
In this talk, he ponders exactly what it is that makes their music endure. Why is it, he asks, that one of the things people never say is "I don't like the Beatles". For his children, he says, "the Beatles are as uncontroversial as the moon. Just there, shining on".
To underline how strange this is, he points out that had the same thing been true for his generation, then the pop music of his childhood would have dated from before the First World War. And that, he says "would have been more than bizarre".
Gopnik concludes that the reason their music lasts is that it was a perfect collaboration of opposites.
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik looks forward to the 50th anniversary of the Beatles."There is something eerie, fated, cosmic about the Beatles" writes Adam Gopnik. "They appear in public as a unit on August 22nd 1969 and disappear as a unit, Mary Poppins like, exactly seven years later".
In this talk, he ponders exactly what it is that makes their music endure. Why is it, he asks, that one of the things people never say is "I don't like the Beatles". For his children, he says, "the Beatles are as uncontroversial as the moon. Just there, shining on".
To underline how strange this is, he points out that had the same thing been true for his generation, then the pop music of his childhood would have dated from before the First World War. And that, he says "would have been more than bizarre".
Gopnik concludes that the reason their music lasts is that it was a perfect collaboration of opposites.
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120615-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jrqs2cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01jrqs2Adam Gopnik: Embarrassing Parents: The Thirteen-Year-Old Truth"One thing that is written into the human genome" says Adam Gopnik, "is that exactly at the age of thirteen, your child - in a minute, and no matter how close or sympathetic the two of you have been before - will discover that you are now the most ridiculous, embarrassing and annoying person on the planet".
Ridiculous "because of your pretensions to be cool...in spite of the obvious truth that you are barely sentient, with one foot rooted in the dim, ancient past while with the other your toes are already tickling eternity"; embarrassing because, "in spite of being ridiculous, you are not content to keep your absurdity decently to yourself" and annoying because "in the face of the wild obvious public embarrassment you cause, you still actually think that you can give advice and counsel".
He takes us on a generational analysis of the plight of the parent - and offers some light-hearted consolation!
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik reflects on embarrassing, ridiculous and annoying parents - like himself!"One thing that is written into the human genome" says Adam Gopnik, "is that exactly at the age of thirteen, your child - in a minute, and no matter how close or sympathetic the two of you have been before - will discover that you are now the most ridiculous, embarrassing and annoying person on the planet".
Ridiculous "because of your pretensions to be cool...in spite of the obvious truth that you are barely sentient, with one foot rooted in the dim, ancient past while with the other your toes are already tickling eternity"; embarrassing because, "in spite of being ridiculous, you are not content to keep your absurdity decently to yourself" and annoying because "in the face of the wild obvious public embarrassment you cause, you still actually think that you can give advice and counsel".
He takes us on a generational analysis of the plight of the parent - and offers some light-hearted consolation!
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120608-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jhp1scleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01jhp1sOn Bees and Being"The other day" Adam Gopnik writes, "my son was working his way through the text of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' with an eye to a student production". He read Canterbury's famous speech on how the well regulated kingdom is like a bee hive. "How could Shakespeare know that much about the division of bee-labour" he ponders "and not know that the big bee in the centre was -- a girl bee?"
Gopnik takes us - via a bunch of bee experts - on a journey of "long and buzzing thoughts". He discovers a transgendered bee in Virgil's Georgics, dressed up as a king bee. He finds himself deep in the world of the Dutch biologist, Swammerdam. "Swammerdam!" he writes. "One of those great Northern European names, like Erasmus of Rotterdam that carries its credibility within its consonants".
He draws lessons about the theory of knowledge and the working of the human mind. He rejects the notion "that thought proceeds in fortresses as ordered and locked as a beehive seems to be." In truth, he argues, "no age thinks monolithically, and no mind begins with absolute clarity ... The sticky honey of uncertainty, the buzz around the beehive's entrance - these are signs of minds at work".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Adam Gopnik muses on why Shakespeare didn't seem to know that the top bee is a girl bee."The other day" Adam Gopnik writes, "my son was working his way through the text of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' with an eye to a student production". He read Canterbury's famous speech on how the well regulated kingdom is like a bee hive. "How could Shakespeare know that much about the division of bee-labour" he ponders "and not know that the big bee in the centre was -- a girl bee?"
Gopnik takes us - via a bunch of bee experts - on a journey of "long and buzzing thoughts". He discovers a transgendered bee in Virgil's Georgics, dressed up as a king bee. He finds himself deep in the world of the Dutch biologist, Swammerdam. "Swammerdam!" he writes. "One of those great Northern European names, like Erasmus of Rotterdam that carries its credibility within its consonants".
He draws lessons about the theory of knowledge and the working of the human mind. He rejects the notion "that thought proceeds in fortresses as ordered and locked as a beehive seems to be." In truth, he argues, "no age thinks monolithically, and no mind begins with absolute clarity ... The sticky honey of uncertainty, the buzz around the beehive's entrance - these are signs of minds at work".
Producer:
Adele Armstrong.Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120601-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j6wszcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01j6wszWill Self: A right loyal toastWill Self reflects on the historical tradition of the Loyal Toast. A week before the Jubilee celebrations get underway, he muses on where deference is properly due.
"I have never risen for the Loyal Toast, and unless some apoplectic patriot holds a gun to my head I doubt I ever will" he writes.
He suggests we should turn our thoughts to who else we might raise a toast to....personally, he believes it should be his postwoman. In that case, he says "I'd be on my hind legs before you could scream 'Treason!'"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.A week before the jubilee, Will Self reflects on the tradition of the Loyal Toast.Will Self reflects on the historical tradition of the Loyal Toast. A week before the Jubilee celebrations get underway, he muses on where deference is properly due.
"I have never risen for the Loyal Toast, and unless some apoplectic patriot holds a gun to my head I doubt I ever will" he writes.
He suggests we should turn our thoughts to who else we might raise a toast to....personally, he believes it should be his postwoman. In that case, he says "I'd be on my hind legs before you could scream 'Treason!'"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000588http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120525-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hxvnkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01hxvnkEurope and my quadriga-spotting tourWill Self ponders the future of Europe as he stands by Berlin's Brandenburg gate.
"As in Greek mythology" he writes, "the sun god Apollo Helios drives his chariot across the skies...so the charioteer and four horses that surmount the Brandenburg Gate...embody the idea of contemporary German nationhood".
On his "quadriga-spotting tour", Will weaves his way through the complex history of this symbol and its relevance for the rest of Europe.
In the end, he controversially asks whether "an end to the European Union in its current banjaxed form might allow all of us to experience a new dawn, drawn by a new charioteer".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self ponders the future of Europe, as he stands by Berlin's Brandenburg gate.Will Self ponders the future of Europe as he stands by Berlin's Brandenburg gate.
"As in Greek mythology" he writes, "the sun god Apollo Helios drives his chariot across the skies...so the charioteer and four horses that surmount the Brandenburg Gate...embody the idea of contemporary German nationhood".
On his "quadriga-spotting tour", Will weaves his way through the complex history of this symbol and its relevance for the rest of Europe.
In the end, he controversially asks whether "an end to the European Union in its current banjaxed form might allow all of us to experience a new dawn, drawn by a new charioteer".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000592http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120518-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hl4hjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01hl4hjMilitary matters"Suppose you've spend the entirety of your working life pushing paper in an office and concocting ways of winning elections - then the heavy wooden door of Number 10 finally swings closed and....in the back garden, a couple of strapping fellows are parading up and down the lawn with Heckler & Koch machine guns around their necks, their mission: to stop the baddies scything you down".
Will Self asks what can drive political leaders into the arms of the military. From the era of Margaret Thatcher on, he says, "a key aspect of the premiership seems to have become posing with tough, tough boys and their tough, tough toys".
In Will Self's view, this close relationship between politicians and the military helps no-one. His solution - to bring back National Service. "The cry", he writes, "beloved of the ramrod-straight and the crew-cut is joined by me with all my bohemian heart". And he says he would be first in line!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self asks what can drive political leaders into the arms of the military."Suppose you've spend the entirety of your working life pushing paper in an office and concocting ways of winning elections - then the heavy wooden door of Number 10 finally swings closed and....in the back garden, a couple of strapping fellows are parading up and down the lawn with Heckler & Koch machine guns around their necks, their mission: to stop the baddies scything you down".
Will Self asks what can drive political leaders into the arms of the military. From the era of Margaret Thatcher on, he says, "a key aspect of the premiership seems to have become posing with tough, tough boys and their tough, tough toys".
In Will Self's view, this close relationship between politicians and the military helps no-one. His solution - to bring back National Service. "The cry", he writes, "beloved of the ramrod-straight and the crew-cut is joined by me with all my bohemian heart". And he says he would be first in line!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000588http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120511-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h7cfgcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01h7cfgLords, lordlings and....crumpetsFifteen years ago - Will Self writes - he had afternoon tea in the House of Lords with the late Conrad Russell. The distinguished historian was a hereditary peer who was entirely in favour of Lords' abolition. What Will Self remembers most about the encounter was the crumpets. "'Do have another crumpet" he'd say, 'they really are awfully good'". Fifteen years on, Will says: "Russell was right about the crumpets - and he was right about the hereditaries".
He looks forward to the Queen's Speech, which is widely expected to include a bill on Lords reform. A waste of time, he believes. But that matters little in his view. "After all, the first bill to create an elected second chamber was introduced over a century ago - and doesn't this simply prove that the great and glorious fudge that's the unwritten British constitution thrives on such slow and organic change".
Via what he calls the "Googlisation" of the political process, he attacks the move towards the centre ground by all three main UK parties. "We...are tormented by politicans who look the same, sound the same and spout so-called 'policies' that are usually only marginally different versions of the same routine ideas".
Back at the Lords, he concludes, hereditary peers "are still busily tucking into their excellent crumpets. Yummy-yummy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self explores Lords reform and the narrowing of the range of British political choiceFifteen years ago - Will Self writes - he had afternoon tea in the House of Lords with the late Conrad Russell. The distinguished historian was a hereditary peer who was entirely in favour of Lords' abolition. What Will Self remembers most about the encounter was the crumpets. "'Do have another crumpet" he'd say, 'they really are awfully good'". Fifteen years on, Will says: "Russell was right about the crumpets - and he was right about the hereditaries".
He looks forward to the Queen's Speech, which is widely expected to include a bill on Lords reform. A waste of time, he believes. But that matters little in his view. "After all, the first bill to create an elected second chamber was introduced over a century ago - and doesn't this simply prove that the great and glorious fudge that's the unwritten British constitution thrives on such slow and organic change".
Via what he calls the "Googlisation" of the political process, he attacks the move towards the centre ground by all three main UK parties. "We...are tormented by politicans who look the same, sound the same and spout so-called 'policies' that are usually only marginally different versions of the same routine ideas".
Back at the Lords, he concludes, hereditary peers "are still busily tucking into their excellent crumpets. Yummy-yummy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000568http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120504-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gvwyjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01gvwyjThe rights of humans... and animals"Could it be that human rights simply don't exist?" asks Will Self provocatively.
To illustrate his point, he writes: "One man's extraordinary rendition is another man's license to torture, which in turn is a flagrant denial of a third man's human rights". And he ponders how we can conceive of a person having any human rights, unless effective sanctions are in place to stop them being violated. He turns his attention to Syria and its "vicious dictator...actively and consistently violating the human rights of its own citizenry". But the UN Security Council is - he says - seemingly powerless to stop him.
It is all a long way, he suggests, from Article 1 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." That - he points out - means that "no single one of the eight-and-a-half billion-odd human lives currently transpiring can be held to be of greater value that any of the others". Without the creation of an "independent global judiciary" and "an equally incorruptible international police force," he argues, this is little more than cant.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Will Self asks whether 'human rights' really exist, when they can so easily be taken away."Could it be that human rights simply don't exist?" asks Will Self provocatively.
To illustrate his point, he writes: "One man's extraordinary rendition is another man's license to torture, which in turn is a flagrant denial of a third man's human rights". And he ponders how we can conceive of a person having any human rights, unless effective sanctions are in place to stop them being violated. He turns his attention to Syria and its "vicious dictator...actively and consistently violating the human rights of its own citizenry". But the UN Security Council is - he says - seemingly powerless to stop him.
It is all a long way, he suggests, from Article 1 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." That - he points out - means that "no single one of the eight-and-a-half billion-odd human lives currently transpiring can be held to be of greater value that any of the others". Without the creation of an "independent global judiciary" and "an equally incorruptible international police force," he argues, this is little more than cant.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000574http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120427-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ghgtdcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01ghgtdChallenging IntellectWill Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of "difficult" books and art, and value works which are more taxing than our increasingly low-brow popular culture. "The most disturbing result of this retreat from the difficult is to be found in arts and humanities education, where the traditional set texts are now chopped up into boneless nuggets of McKnowledge, and students are encouraged to do their research - such as it is - on the web."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of difficult books and art.Will Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of "difficult" books and art, and value works which are more taxing than our increasingly low-brow popular culture. "The most disturbing result of this retreat from the difficult is to be found in arts and humanities education, where the traditional set texts are now chopped up into boneless nuggets of McKnowledge, and students are encouraged to do their research - such as it is - on the web."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000588http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120420-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g65tjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01g65tjJubilee CelebrationsDavid Cannadine looks ahead to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, reflecting on the history and significance of royal jubilees worldwide and, in particular, the celebrations for Queen Victoria. "Diamond jubilees... are very much a construction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: both in terms of the grandiose ceremonials accompanying them, and also in terms of the narratives that have invariably been constructed to make some sort of sense of the six decades that are being commemorated."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the history of royal jubilee celebrations.David Cannadine looks ahead to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, reflecting on the history and significance of royal jubilees worldwide and, in particular, the celebrations for Queen Victoria. "Diamond jubilees... are very much a construction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: both in terms of the grandiose ceremonials accompanying them, and also in terms of the narratives that have invariably been constructed to make some sort of sense of the six decades that are being commemorated."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000602http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120413-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fjz3rcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01fjz3rCathedral HeritageDavid Cannadine reflects at Easter time on the architectural glories of cathedrals and the part these buildings have played in our national history and culture. He traces early and more recent traditions and identifies the world wide impact of Anglican cathedral building during the era of the British Empire.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects at Easter time on the architectural glories of cathedrals.David Cannadine reflects at Easter time on the architectural glories of cathedrals and the part these buildings have played in our national history and culture. He traces early and more recent traditions and identifies the world wide impact of Anglican cathedral building during the era of the British Empire.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120406-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f6chccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01f6chcFat PolicemenDavid Cannadine reflects on the changing images of the typical policeman and our attitude towards the way they look in the light of a recent report that over half of the members of the Metropolitan Police are overweight.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine reflects on the changing images of the typical policeman's size and shape.David Cannadine reflects on the changing images of the typical policeman and our attitude towards the way they look in the light of a recent report that over half of the members of the Metropolitan Police are overweight.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120330-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dvzphcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01dvzphThe Fashion for WesternsDavid Cannadine recalls the heyday of cinema and television Westerns and wonders if the makers of a big screen adaptation of the Lone Ranger will capture a new audience when the film is released next year. Despite the decline in popularity of the Western, "the appeal of the mythical West has remained a powerful force in American political life."
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine recalls the heyday of cinema and television Westerns.David Cannadine recalls the heyday of cinema and television Westerns and wonders if the makers of a big screen adaptation of the Lone Ranger will capture a new audience when the film is released next year. Despite the decline in popularity of the Western, "the appeal of the mythical West has remained a powerful force in American political life."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120323-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01djsg3cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01djsg3Power of the PressHistorian David Cannadine reflects on the power of the press, past and present, recalling how early twentieth century press barons attempted to influence politics. He recalls Stanley Baldwin's response to the campaign by Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook to topple him as Conservative leader, accusing them of wielding "power without responsibility."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Historian David Cannadine reflects on the power of the press, past and present.Historian David Cannadine reflects on the power of the press, past and present, recalling how early twentieth century press barons attempted to influence politics. He recalls Stanley Baldwin's response to the campaign by Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook to topple him as Conservative leader, accusing them of wielding "power without responsibility."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120316-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d5r25cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01d5r25Churchill's American SpeechesDavid Cannadine reflects on the enduring resonance of the important speeches which Winston Churchill delivered in colleges and universities in the United States. Westminster College, Fulton, has "become a shrine to Churchill and his 'iron curtain' speech" and Harvard was where he gave a speech on "Anglo-American Unity".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Prof David Cannadine reflects on the enduring resonance of Churchill's speeches in AmericaDavid Cannadine reflects on the enduring resonance of the important speeches which Winston Churchill delivered in colleges and universities in the United States. Westminster College, Fulton, has "become a shrine to Churchill and his 'iron curtain' speech" and Harvard was where he gave a speech on "Anglo-American Unity".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120309-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cwwm1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01cwwm1David Cannadine: Why Wear a Tie?Historian David Cannadine compares the traditions of tie wearing on both sides of the Atlantic. He reflects on the social significance of this element of male dress and observes a recent phenomenon - that politicians seem to campaign in open neck shirts but govern wearing ties.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine compares the traditions of tie-wearing on both sides of the Atlantic.Historian David Cannadine compares the traditions of tie wearing on both sides of the Atlantic. He reflects on the social significance of this element of male dress and observes a recent phenomenon - that politicians seem to campaign in open neck shirts but govern wearing ties.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120302-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cks5bcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01cks5bA History of Monetary UnionsDavid Cannadine reflects on the history of monetary unions and what causes them to succeed or fail. Ancient Greece turns out to be a pioneer, whereas modern Greece has posed a threat to any monetary union it has joined.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine on the history of monetary unions and what causes success or failure.David Cannadine reflects on the history of monetary unions and what causes them to succeed or fail. Ancient Greece turns out to be a pioneer, whereas modern Greece has posed a threat to any monetary union it has joined.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120224-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01c7xfjcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01c7xfjBankers in AmericaDavid Cannadine reflects on current and historic attitudes towards bankers in America where opinion does not divide neatly along party lines. He sees today's criticism as mild by comparison with the attitude of Franklin D. Roosevelt who unleashed "a sustained and ferocious attack " during the era of the New Deal.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Historian David Cannadine reflects on attitudes towards bankers in America.David Cannadine reflects on current and historic attitudes towards bankers in America where opinion does not divide neatly along party lines. He sees today's criticism as mild by comparison with the attitude of Franklin D. Roosevelt who unleashed "a sustained and ferocious attack " during the era of the New Deal.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120217-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01by9m1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01by9m1Anniversary CornucopiaAwareness of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens may be widespread but fewer may know 2012 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the death of the only British prime minister to be assassinated.
Producer: Sheila Cook.David Cannadine surveys the current crop of anniversaries.Awareness of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens may be widespread but fewer may know 2012 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the death of the only British prime minister to be assassinated.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000594http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120210-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bmq3fcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01bmq3fEmail EtiquetteLisa Jardine reflects on the perils of sending over-hasty emails compared with the time allowed for reflection by old fashioned letter writing.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on the perils of over-hasty emails.Lisa Jardine reflects on the perils of sending over-hasty emails compared with the time allowed for reflection by old fashioned letter writing.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000575http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120203-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bbd97cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01bbd97The Thatcher StoryThe historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the week's events.
Producer: Sheila Cook.The historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the week's events.The historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the week's events.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000595http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120127-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1nl0cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01b1nl0Volume ControlLisa Jardine reflects on her aversion to today's new sources of noise and traces the history of some attempts at noise abatement.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on her aversion to today's new sources of noise.Lisa Jardine reflects on her aversion to today's new sources of noise and traces the history of some attempts at noise abatement.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000581http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120119-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h3q4cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b019h3q4The Art of GardeningThe historian Lisa Jardine recalls the seventeenth century Lord Chancellor, and keen gardener, Sir Francis Bacon as she reflects on the art of gardening, as both pure human pleasure and a means of self advancement. "Perhaps the innocence and sustaining consolation of gardens is not quite such a simple matter after all. The shadow of political self-interest falls across the sweet-smelling flowerbeds and shady bowers too."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on gardening's purity, and its darker, political aspect.The historian Lisa Jardine recalls the seventeenth century Lord Chancellor, and keen gardener, Sir Francis Bacon as she reflects on the art of gardening, as both pure human pleasure and a means of self advancement. "Perhaps the innocence and sustaining consolation of gardens is not quite such a simple matter after all. The shadow of political self-interest falls across the sweet-smelling flowerbeds and shady bowers too."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120113-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0196vgycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0196vgyInformation OverloadThe historian Lisa Jardine reflects that information overload is not a new problem. "By the seventeenth-century there was widespread anxiety that the sheer volume of available knowledge was getting out of hand." There were also fears that wars and unrest could obliterate knowledge through the destruction of archives. Nowadays, losing knowledge completely is harder thanks to the internet, but the need to sift it is as great as ever.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Historian Lisa Jardine reflects that information overload is not a new problem.The historian Lisa Jardine reflects that information overload is not a new problem. "By the seventeenth-century there was widespread anxiety that the sheer volume of available knowledge was getting out of hand." There were also fears that wars and unrest could obliterate knowledge through the destruction of archives. Nowadays, losing knowledge completely is harder thanks to the internet, but the need to sift it is as great as ever.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20120106-2059.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018xy35cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018xy35Glamour in AusterityLisa Jardine remembers 2011 for the spectacle of the Royal Wedding, reflecting on the historic power of regal glamour in times of austerity. Queen Elizabeth I "used ostentation and opulence in her dress as a political tool to increase national confidence in the solvency of her regime."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on the historic power of royal glamour in times of austerity.Lisa Jardine remembers 2011 for the spectacle of the Royal Wedding, reflecting on the historic power of regal glamour in times of austerity. Queen Elizabeth I "used ostentation and opulence in her dress as a political tool to increase national confidence in the solvency of her regime."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000607http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111230-2059.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018h188cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018h188The Memory BusinessSimon Schama reflects on how the world - ten years on - remembered the events of 9/11. And he ponders why it's vital to remember. "Ten years is an aeon in tweet-time", he writes, but 9/11 "bleeds - in every sense - into today's front pages".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Simon Schama reflects on how the world - ten years on - remembered the events of 9/11.Simon Schama reflects on how the world - ten years on - remembered the events of 9/11. And he ponders why it's vital to remember. "Ten years is an aeon in tweet-time", he writes, but 9/11 "bleeds - in every sense - into today's front pages".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000845http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111229-1830.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018gs8wcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018gs8wMedia MalpracticeWill Self reflects on the new landscape for the press
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self reflects on the new landscape for the press.Will Self reflects on the new landscape for the press
Producer: Sheila Cook.Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000854http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111228-1830.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018gr02cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018gr02The Meaning of DebtSarah Dunant looks at different aspects of debt, including the debt owed to those who have been a force for change in Arab countries.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Sarah Dunant looks at different aspects of debt.Sarah Dunant looks at different aspects of debt, including the debt owed to those who have been a force for change in Arab countries.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000818http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111227-1830.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018gpdlcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018gpdlThe End, yet again?The author and philosopher John Gray on the merits of living for the present.
"We tend to look forward to a future state of fulfilment in which all turmoil has ceased", Gray writes. But, he says, "when we look to the future to give meaning to our lives, we lose the meaning we can make for ourselves here and now".
He argues that we should give up our obsession with endings and urges us not to be wary of change. "Humans are sturdy creatures, built to withstand disruption".
"Conflict never ceases", he says, "but neither do human resourcefulness, adaptability and courage".
On Europe, he writes, "wherever Europe's elites turn for support, the pillars begin to crumble and shake. Eventually every utopian project comes to grief - and while it started as a benign creation, the European project has long since acquired an unmistakably utopian quality. The efforts that are being made to renew the project are only accelerating its demise".
"Renewing our lives in the face of recurring evils", he concludes, "is the task...that has always faced human beings. Looking to an end-time is a way of failing to cherish the present - the only time that is truly our own".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The author and philosopher John Gray on the merits of living for the present.The author and philosopher John Gray on the merits of living for the present.
"We tend to look forward to a future state of fulfilment in which all turmoil has ceased", Gray writes. But, he says, "when we look to the future to give meaning to our lives, we lose the meaning we can make for ourselves here and now".
He argues that we should give up our obsession with endings and urges us not to be wary of change. "Humans are sturdy creatures, built to withstand disruption".
"Conflict never ceases", he says, "but neither do human resourcefulness, adaptability and courage".
On Europe, he writes, "wherever Europe's elites turn for support, the pillars begin to crumble and shake. Eventually every utopian project comes to grief - and while it started as a benign creation, the European project has long since acquired an unmistakably utopian quality. The efforts that are being made to renew the project are only accelerating its demise".
"Renewing our lives in the face of recurring evils", he concludes, "is the task...that has always faced human beings. Looking to an end-time is a way of failing to cherish the present - the only time that is truly our own".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000830http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111226-1830.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018g3nxcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018g3nxCarols at ChristmasLisa Jardine reflects on the power of music to move, especially at Christmas, when the singing of carols unites singers and listeners alike, in an outpouring of community spirit. She also celebrates each advance in technology which has made music available to all, not just an elite, from the fifteenth century mass production of carol books to the screening in cinemas worldwide of opera live from the Met in New York.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine reflects on the power of music to move, especially at Christmas.Lisa Jardine reflects on the power of music to move, especially at Christmas, when the singing of carols unites singers and listeners alike, in an outpouring of community spirit. She also celebrates each advance in technology which has made music available to all, not just an elite, from the fifteenth century mass production of carol books to the screening in cinemas worldwide of opera live from the Met in New York.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111223-2059.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ft1fcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b018ft1fClimate Change BeliefLisa Jardine thinks selective hearing skews the debate over climate change and urges climate scientists to fully engage in a conversation with their sceptical critics. "Graphs and pie charts have evidently failed to convince. Perhaps a more discursive approach which focuses on observable change backed up by scientific evidence may be more persuasive."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine thinks selective hearing skews the debate over climate change.Lisa Jardine thinks selective hearing skews the debate over climate change and urges climate scientists to fully engage in a conversation with their sceptical critics. "Graphs and pie charts have evidently failed to convince. Perhaps a more discursive approach which focuses on observable change backed up by scientific evidence may be more persuasive."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111216-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0184w66cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0184w66Beware the ExpertsThe historian Lisa Jardine recalls CP Snow for lessons on the dangers of leaving political decisions to technocrats and experts and calls for better informed debate by politicians and public alike in the fields of science and economics.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Lisa Jardine recalls CP Snow's lessons on the dangers of government by experts.The historian Lisa Jardine recalls CP Snow for lessons on the dangers of leaving political decisions to technocrats and experts and calls for better informed debate by politicians and public alike in the fields of science and economics.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000605http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111209-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017x776cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b017x776Lisa Jardine: Finding Family HistoryThe historian Lisa Jardine welcomes recent moves to promote the teaching of history in schools and finds herself converted to the value of family history after the discovery of a tape recording shed light on a puzzling family photograph which was taken in 1906.
Producer: Sheila Cook.The historian Lisa Jardine finds herself converted to family history.The historian Lisa Jardine welcomes recent moves to promote the teaching of history in schools and finds herself converted to the value of family history after the discovery of a tape recording shed light on a puzzling family photograph which was taken in 1906.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111202-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017mz49cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b017mz49The Oxbridge InterviewMary Beard reflects on the purpose of the much-maligned "Oxbridge interview" and defends the "Would you rather be an apple or a banana" school of questioning....
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on the purpose of the much-maligned 'Oxbridge interview'.Mary Beard reflects on the purpose of the much-maligned "Oxbridge interview" and defends the "Would you rather be an apple or a banana" school of questioning....
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000587http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111125-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017clxkcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b017clxkReflections on Monetary UnionWith the euro in turmoil, Mary Beard reflects on the very first monetary union, two and a half thousand years ago.
And she contemplates the detail of the modern euro coins. "Take a closer look at those heads-and-tails" she writes, "and you'll find some rather disconcerting angles on European history and politics".
She decides that it is the Greek Euro-coinage that offers the most food for thought. The bull on the back of the 2 euro coin is, in fact, part of a depiction of a rape. Zeus, the king of the gods turned himself into a bull and snatched Princess Europa. Mary says she understands why the Greeks wanted this scene on their coins. It suggests that "without Greece there would have been no Europe - that Greece had invented the continent". But she's never quite worked out "how the Greek people so easily came to terms with the idea of having a picture of rape jingling around amongst the small change in their pockets".
Then she turns her sights to the 1 euro coin, with its beady-eyed owl, an exact copy of a fifth-century BC Athenian coin. The little bird was the symbol of Athena, the protector of the city of Athens. In the fifth century BC, she points out, Athens was a democracy yet also "an exploitative empire, controlling many other states around the Mediterranean". The Athenians made their neighbours get rid of their own currency and use the owls instead. "Its hard to resist the conclusion", she says, "that the Athenian imperialists were using monetary union to display their political muscle - and hard not to imagine that vengeance for that has finally come, 25 centuries later".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard reflects on the very first monetary union, two and a half thousand years ago.With the euro in turmoil, Mary Beard reflects on the very first monetary union, two and a half thousand years ago.
And she contemplates the detail of the modern euro coins. "Take a closer look at those heads-and-tails" she writes, "and you'll find some rather disconcerting angles on European history and politics".
She decides that it is the Greek Euro-coinage that offers the most food for thought. The bull on the back of the 2 euro coin is, in fact, part of a depiction of a rape. Zeus, the king of the gods turned himself into a bull and snatched Princess Europa. Mary says she understands why the Greeks wanted this scene on their coins. It suggests that "without Greece there would have been no Europe - that Greece had invented the continent". But she's never quite worked out "how the Greek people so easily came to terms with the idea of having a picture of rape jingling around amongst the small change in their pockets".
Then she turns her sights to the 1 euro coin, with its beady-eyed owl, an exact copy of a fifth-century BC Athenian coin. The little bird was the symbol of Athena, the protector of the city of Athens. In the fifth century BC, she points out, Athens was a democracy yet also "an exploitative empire, controlling many other states around the Mediterranean". The Athenians made their neighbours get rid of their own currency and use the owls instead. "Its hard to resist the conclusion", she says, "that the Athenian imperialists were using monetary union to display their political muscle - and hard not to imagine that vengeance for that has finally come, 25 centuries later".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000578http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111118-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01756jycleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01756jyOn Age and BeautyMary Beard takes a peek at Miss World 2011 and ponders why - unlike her days as a radical feminist teenager -the whole occasion doesn't fill her with fury.
"It all felt" - she writes - "like a scantily-clad, tabloid version of University Challenge....but with a kind of high-minded worthiness". Long gone the old beauty contest ambitions of travelling and starting a family. "These contestants talked of becoming international lawyers, museum curators, architects, diplomats".
So does this lack outrage mean she has she sold out on feminism? "That's not how it seems to me" she writes. "At 56 I count myself as strong a feminist as I was at 26". Just a bit more laid back.
"The less I see my own body as a positive asset" she says - joking about her greying hair and her thickening toe nails - "the less I have wanted to interfere with what other women choose to do with theirs".
"Times do change and some battles honestly do get won" she concludes. "I don't any longer feel that Miss Venezuela is much of an enemy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard takes a peek at Miss World 2011 and ponders the upsides of middle age.Mary Beard takes a peek at Miss World 2011 and ponders why - unlike her days as a radical feminist teenager -the whole occasion doesn't fill her with fury.
"It all felt" - she writes - "like a scantily-clad, tabloid version of University Challenge....but with a kind of high-minded worthiness". Long gone the old beauty contest ambitions of travelling and starting a family. "These contestants talked of becoming international lawyers, museum curators, architects, diplomats".
So does this lack outrage mean she has she sold out on feminism? "That's not how it seems to me" she writes. "At 56 I count myself as strong a feminist as I was at 26". Just a bit more laid back.
"The less I see my own body as a positive asset" she says - joking about her greying hair and her thickening toe nails - "the less I have wanted to interfere with what other women choose to do with theirs".
"Times do change and some battles honestly do get won" she concludes. "I don't any longer feel that Miss Venezuela is much of an enemy".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000599http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111111-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016x4ttcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b016x4ttMary Beard: On TyrantsFrom the ingeniously ghastly ways they killed their opponents to their weird forms of dress, Mary Beard reflects on the uncanny similarities between Colonel Gaddafi and the tyrants of ancient Rome.
She argues that the similarities were present in life - and in death.
"On 11 March 222 AD," she writes, "a posse of rebel soldiers tracked down the Roman emperor Elagabalus to his hiding place. The tyrant was holed up in a latrine, desperately hoping to keep clear of the liberators, who were out for his blood". She continues: "The story goes that the rebels rooted him out, killed him, triumphantly dragged his body through the streets of Rome and then threw his mutilated remains into a drain."
Mary suggests modern and ancient tyrant are portrayed as sharing a penchant for eccentric accommodation, like Gaddafi's tent and Nero's infamous "Golden House". And they seem to enjoy dubious hobbies - such as Emperor Domitian's obsession with stabbing flies and Gaddafi's obsessive collection of pictures of Condoleeza Rice, which were stuck in a scrapbook.
But she argues that these stereotypes of tyrants are little more than half-truths and hearsay....an easy way of making a figure of fear into a figure of fun.
The reality, she says, is much more nuanced. "Badness", she suggests, "comes in inconveniently complicated ways. Most bad people are good in parts".
How often, she asks, are we told that life expectancy in Libya far exceeds that of its neighbours, that Libya has substantially lower child mortality than its neighbours, the highest literacy rate in North Africa, free hospitals and free childcare.
"My point is not that we should see Gaddafi as a good man" she says. Rather that "among all the things that have been going terribly wrong under the Gaddafi regime, some things have been going right".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Mary Beard on the uncanny similarities between Colonel Gaddafi and tyrants in ancient RomeFrom the ingeniously ghastly ways they killed their opponents to their weird forms of dress, Mary Beard reflects on the uncanny similarities between Colonel Gaddafi and the tyrants of ancient Rome.
She argues that the similarities were present in life - and in death.
"On 11 March 222 AD," she writes, "a posse of rebel soldiers tracked down the Roman emperor Elagabalus to his hiding place. The tyrant was holed up in a latrine, desperately hoping to keep clear of the liberators, who were out for his blood". She continues: "The story goes that the rebels rooted him out, killed him, triumphantly dragged his body through the streets of Rome and then threw his mutilated remains into a drain."
Mary suggests modern and ancient tyrant are portrayed as sharing a penchant for eccentric accommodation, like Gaddafi's tent and Nero's infamous "Golden House". And they seem to enjoy dubious hobbies - such as Emperor Domitian's obsession with stabbing flies and Gaddafi's obsessive collection of pictures of Condoleeza Rice, which were stuck in a scrapbook.
But she argues that these stereotypes of tyrants are little more than half-truths and hearsay....an easy way of making a figure of fear into a figure of fun.
The reality, she says, is much more nuanced. "Badness", she suggests, "comes in inconveniently complicated ways. Most bad people are good in parts".
How often, she asks, are we told that life expectancy in Libya far exceeds that of its neighbours, that Libya has substantially lower child mortality than its neighbours, the highest literacy rate in North Africa, free hospitals and free childcare.
"My point is not that we should see Gaddafi as a good man" she says. Rather that "among all the things that have been going terribly wrong under the Gaddafi regime, some things have been going right".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000587http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111104-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016lkh5cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b016lkh5The Arms TradeWill Self deplores the arms trade and Britain's role in it, including the sale of weapons to authoritarian regimes which abuse human rights. He takes aim at the euphemisms that surround the sector. "The elision of business-speak with the foggy verbiage of warfare is perhaps the most deranging aspect of the contemporary arms trade," he says.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self deplores the arms trade, Britain's role in it and the euphemisms around it.Will Self deplores the arms trade and Britain's role in it, including the sale of weapons to authoritarian regimes which abuse human rights. He takes aim at the euphemisms that surround the sector. "The elision of business-speak with the foggy verbiage of warfare is perhaps the most deranging aspect of the contemporary arms trade," he says.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111028-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01694p0cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01694p0Class, race and social mobilityWill Self reflects that racism is rarely a sole cause of social injustice but alongside other problems such as poverty it can limit people's social mobility. "All too often pundits and policymakers seek a single cause for social stratification when they should accept that in a nation where inequality in real, monetary terms is increasing....the reasons for being at the bottom of the heap are manifold. It's not a case of class or family or education or money or race, it's a matter of of class, family, education, money AND race."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Presenter Will Self.Will Self reflects that racism is rarely a sole cause of social injustice.Will Self reflects that racism is rarely a sole cause of social injustice but alongside other problems such as poverty it can limit people's social mobility. "All too often pundits and policymakers seek a single cause for social stratification when they should accept that in a nation where inequality in real, monetary terms is increasing....the reasons for being at the bottom of the heap are manifold. It's not a case of class or family or education or money or race, it's a matter of of class, family, education, money AND race."
Producer: Sheila Cook
Presenter Will Self.Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000586http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111021-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015ztqmcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b015ztqmIn praise of wind turbinesWill Self praises the beauty of wind turbines and says protests against them spring from a misconceived idyllic view of our already man-made landscape. "It would seem to me that most of those who energetically campaign against the planting of wind farms in their bosky vale do so not out of a profound appreciation of the dew-jewelled web of life, but merely as spectators who wish the show that they've paid admission for to go as advertised."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self praises the beauty of wind turbines.Will Self praises the beauty of wind turbines and says protests against them spring from a misconceived idyllic view of our already man-made landscape. "It would seem to me that most of those who energetically campaign against the planting of wind farms in their bosky vale do so not out of a profound appreciation of the dew-jewelled web of life, but merely as spectators who wish the show that they've paid admission for to go as advertised."
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111014-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015pdc1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b015pdc1Why Prisons FailWill Self sees an urgent need to reform the prison system and deplores what he sees as a lack of political will to tackle its present failings. "Not only does prison, for the vast majority of those who endure it not work - either as punishment or as rehabilitation - but there is no escaping the conclusion that it functions as a stimulant to crime, rather than its bromide".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self sees an urgent need to reform the prison system.Will Self sees an urgent need to reform the prison system and deplores what he sees as a lack of political will to tackle its present failings. "Not only does prison, for the vast majority of those who endure it not work - either as punishment or as rehabilitation - but there is no escaping the conclusion that it functions as a stimulant to crime, rather than its bromide".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000609http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20111007-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015cvctcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b015cvctPolitical party membershipWill Self attacks the people who join political parties as "donkeys led by donkeys". He criticises the spectacle of the party conferences, a parade of "endlessly biddable Dobbins" displaying "a mental passivity that makes the average X-factor audience look like the participants in one of Plato's symposia." He argues that members repeatedly see their principles betrayed by the actions of the leaders of their parties who are continually fighting over the same patch of turf, "butting and biting the other herds".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Will Self attacks political party members as 'donkeys led by donkeys'.Will Self attacks the people who join political parties as "donkeys led by donkeys". He criticises the spectacle of the party conferences, a parade of "endlessly biddable Dobbins" displaying "a mental passivity that makes the average X-factor audience look like the participants in one of Plato's symposia." He argues that members repeatedly see their principles betrayed by the actions of the leaders of their parties who are continually fighting over the same patch of turf, "butting and biting the other herds".
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000600http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110930-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0151xtbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0151xtbChurchill, chance and the black dog"For a couple of days in May 1940, the fate of the world turned on the fall of a leaf" says John Gray. He outlines the strange conjunction of events - and the work of chance - that led to Churchill becoming Prime Minister.
He muses on how Churchill was found by one of his advisers around one o'clock on the morning of May 9th "brooding alone in one of his clubs". He was given a crucial bit of advice which may have secured him the job. What would have happened Gray wonders if he hadn't been found and that advice - to say nothing! - not been passed on?
He also ponders whether it was it Churchill's recurring melancholy which made for his greatness? "It's hard to resist the thought that the dark view of the world that came on Churchill in his moods of desolation enabled him to see what others could not".
"Churchill had not one life but several" says Gray. Without them all, "history would have been very different, and the world darker than anything we can easily imagine".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray reflects on the chance encounters that made Churchill wartime Prime Minister."For a couple of days in May 1940, the fate of the world turned on the fall of a leaf" says John Gray. He outlines the strange conjunction of events - and the work of chance - that led to Churchill becoming Prime Minister.
He muses on how Churchill was found by one of his advisers around one o'clock on the morning of May 9th "brooding alone in one of his clubs". He was given a crucial bit of advice which may have secured him the job. What would have happened Gray wonders if he hadn't been found and that advice - to say nothing! - not been passed on?
He also ponders whether it was it Churchill's recurring melancholy which made for his greatness? "It's hard to resist the thought that the dark view of the world that came on Churchill in his moods of desolation enabled him to see what others could not".
"Churchill had not one life but several" says Gray. Without them all, "history would have been very different, and the world darker than anything we can easily imagine".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000610http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110923-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014qxc7cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b014qxc7Believing in BeliefJohn Gray argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided. Extreme atheists do not realise that for most people across the globe, religion is not generally about personal belief. Instead, "Practice - ritual, meditation, a way of life - is what counts." Central to religion is the power of myth, which still speaks to the contemporary mind. "The idea that science can enable us to live without myths is one of these silly modern stories." In fact, he argues, science has created its own myth, "chief among them the myth of salvation through science....The idea that humans will rise from the dead may be incredible" he says, "but no more so than the notion that humanity can use science to remake the world"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided.John Gray argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided. Extreme atheists do not realise that for most people across the globe, religion is not generally about personal belief. Instead, "Practice - ritual, meditation, a way of life - is what counts." Central to religion is the power of myth, which still speaks to the contemporary mind. "The idea that science can enable us to live without myths is one of these silly modern stories." In fact, he argues, science has created its own myth, "chief among them the myth of salvation through science....The idea that humans will rise from the dead may be incredible" he says, "but no more so than the notion that humanity can use science to remake the world"
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000584http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110916-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014gk72cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b014gk72Cats, birds and humansJohn Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself.
He tells the story of an eminent philosopher who once told him that he'd persuaded his cat to become a vegan! An effort, it seems, to get the cat to share his values. But Gray argues that there's no evolutionary hierarchy with humans at the top.
"What birds and animals offer us", he says, "is not confirmation of our sense of having an exalted place in some sort of cosmic hierarchy. It's admission into a larger scheme of things, where our minds are no longer turned in on themselves".
He concludes that "by giving us the freedom to see the world afresh, birds and animals renew our humanity".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself.John Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself.
He tells the story of an eminent philosopher who once told him that he'd persuaded his cat to become a vegan! An effort, it seems, to get the cat to share his values. But Gray argues that there's no evolutionary hierarchy with humans at the top.
"What birds and animals offer us", he says, "is not confirmation of our sense of having an exalted place in some sort of cosmic hierarchy. It's admission into a larger scheme of things, where our minds are no longer turned in on themselves".
He concludes that "by giving us the freedom to see the world afresh, birds and animals renew our humanity".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000586http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110909-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01464chcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01464chJohn Gray: The revolution of capitalismThe author and philosopher John Gray presents a hard-hitting talk about capitalism.
He argues that one side-effect of the financial crisis is an increasing number of people who believe that Karl Marx was right.
He outlines why Marx's belief that capitalism would lead to revolution - and end bourgeois life - has come true. But not in the way Marx imagined. For increasing numbers of people, he says, a middle class existence is no longer even an aspiration. "More and more people live from day to day with little idea of what the future will bring".
"It's wasn't communism that did the deed" he says. "It's capitalism that has killed off the bourgeoisie".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray on why an increasing number of people believe that Karl Marx was right.The author and philosopher John Gray presents a hard-hitting talk about capitalism.
He argues that one side-effect of the financial crisis is an increasing number of people who believe that Karl Marx was right.
He outlines why Marx's belief that capitalism would lead to revolution - and end bourgeois life - has come true. But not in the way Marx imagined. For increasing numbers of people, he says, a middle class existence is no longer even an aspiration. "More and more people live from day to day with little idea of what the future will bring".
"It's wasn't communism that did the deed" he says. "It's capitalism that has killed off the bourgeoisie".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110902-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013r2ldcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b013r2ldKim PhilbyAs recently discovered letters from Kim Philby are published, John Gray argues that the spy's life illustrates why we are so poor at predicting the future. Where Philby saw a bright future in Soviet Communism - one that led him to betray friends and colleagues - many in the West hoped for a different utopia in Russia as Communism collapsed. Neither saw their dreams realised. As John Gray observes, both groups "failed to understand that the only genuine historical law is the law of irony."
Producer: Adele Armstrong.John Gray on why Kim Philby, and so many others, have failed to predict the future.As recently discovered letters from Kim Philby are published, John Gray argues that the spy's life illustrates why we are so poor at predicting the future. Where Philby saw a bright future in Soviet Communism - one that led him to betray friends and colleagues - many in the West hoped for a different utopia in Russia as Communism collapsed. Neither saw their dreams realised. As John Gray observes, both groups "failed to understand that the only genuine historical law is the law of irony."
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000583http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110826-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013gfnpcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b013gfnpGreece and the Meaning of FollyThe celebrated thinker John Gray gives his reflection on the meaning of folly. Taking the myth of the Trojan horse as his starting point, he explores what he sees as the modern day folly unfolding in Europe. He calls on European leaders to reconsider the single European currency - a project he says was always doomed to fail.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.The celebrated thinker John Gray gives his reflection on the meaning of folly.The celebrated thinker John Gray gives his reflection on the meaning of folly. Taking the myth of the Trojan horse as his starting point, he explores what he sees as the modern day folly unfolding in Europe. He calls on European leaders to reconsider the single European currency - a project he says was always doomed to fail.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000567http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110819-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01391jtcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b01391jtThe Advantages of PessimismAlain de Botton on why pessimism is the key to happiness. He argues that the incompatibility between the grandeur of our aspirations and the reality of life is bound to disappoint - unless we learn to be a bit more gloomy!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton on why pessimism is the key to happiness.Alain de Botton on why pessimism is the key to happiness. He argues that the incompatibility between the grandeur of our aspirations and the reality of life is bound to disappoint - unless we learn to be a bit more gloomy!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110812-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0132pvhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b0132pvhModern ParentingAlain de Botton takes a witty look at modern parenting. He explains why today's parent simply can't avoid baking biscuits and helping to paint Tyrannosaurus Rex's scales!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton takes a witty look at modern parenting.Alain de Botton takes a witty look at modern parenting. He explains why today's parent simply can't avoid baking biscuits and helping to paint Tyrannosaurus Rex's scales!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000604http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110805-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012x138cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b012x138On Social ClimbingAlain de Botton reflects on social climbing - and argues that the activity should be seen - at times - as evidence of a natural curiosity about the modern world. And he says in the current environment, it's often not idle pleasure-seeking, but an attempt to keep yourself in a job.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton argues that social climbing is often much more than idle pleasure-seeking.Alain de Botton reflects on social climbing - and argues that the activity should be seen - at times - as evidence of a natural curiosity about the modern world. And he says in the current environment, it's often not idle pleasure-seeking, but an attempt to keep yourself in a job.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000581http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110729-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012r9l1cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b012r9l1What's in a marriageAlain de Botton on our high expectations for modern marriage. He argues that expecting one person to be a good partner, lover and parent is - almost - asking the impossible. And he shows how different it all was before the mid eighteenth century...
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton on our extraordinarily high expectations for modern marriage.Alain de Botton on our high expectations for modern marriage. He argues that expecting one person to be a good partner, lover and parent is - almost - asking the impossible. And he shows how different it all was before the mid eighteenth century...
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000611http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110722-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012lmhccleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b012lmhcThe Art of ConversationAlain de Botton on why preparing conversation is as important as preparing a good salad for our summer picnic. He questions why we put so much effort into our social encounters, but leave our conversation to chance. With examples from history and literature, he argues that it's when there are rules to our conversation that our spirit can best be set free.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton with some food for thought for a summer picnic.Alain de Botton on why preparing conversation is as important as preparing a good salad for our summer picnic. He questions why we put so much effort into our social encounters, but leave our conversation to chance. With examples from history and literature, he argues that it's when there are rules to our conversation that our spirit can best be set free.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000569http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110715-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012ftskcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b012ftskIn Praise of the ZooFollowing the birth of a baby moose in Whipsnade zoo - a rare event - Alain de Botton muses on the value of exotic animals in helping to give us perspective on our own lives. He explains why he's rediscovered wild animals and suggests a zoo trip as a perfect summer outing!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton explores the relationship between humankind and animals.Following the birth of a baby moose in Whipsnade zoo - a rare event - Alain de Botton muses on the value of exotic animals in helping to give us perspective on our own lives. He explains why he's rediscovered wild animals and suggests a zoo trip as a perfect summer outing!
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000575http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110708-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012942vcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b012942vOn marriageAlain de Botton muses on why a bookish life is a poor preparation for marriage! He says Western literature's obsession with unrequited love means the average love story is of help only to the lovelorn. And he argues that the blandness of the word marriage hides a "welter of intensity and depth that put to shame the most passionate works of literature".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton muses on why a bookish life is a poor preparation for marriage!Alain de Botton muses on why a bookish life is a poor preparation for marriage! He says Western literature's obsession with unrequited love means the average love story is of help only to the lovelorn. And he argues that the blandness of the word marriage hides a "welter of intensity and depth that put to shame the most passionate works of literature".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000603http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110211-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y9v03cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00y9v03In Praise of the Nanny StateAlain de Botton asks why the idea of a nanny state is so unappealing. He says complete freedom - left totally to our own devices - is rarely what we want. He says there's a lot to be said for the odd paternalistic nudge in the right direction.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton reflects on why freedom has become our ultimate political ideal.Alain de Botton asks why the idea of a nanny state is so unappealing. He says complete freedom - left totally to our own devices - is rarely what we want. He says there's a lot to be said for the odd paternalistic nudge in the right direction.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000608http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110204-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y2xvhcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00y2xvhAre museums our new churches?Alain de Botton explores the notion that museums are our new churches. But museums - he says - have a lot to learn from churches about getting their message across. He appeals for a complete revamp of some of our favourite museums.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton asks if museums are our new churches.Alain de Botton explores the notion that museums are our new churches. But museums - he says - have a lot to learn from churches about getting their message across. He appeals for a complete revamp of some of our favourite museums.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000575http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110128-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xw5nqcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00xw5nqThe ecological sublimeAlain de Botton gives a philosopher's take on our ecological dilemmas. He argues that fear of environmental destruction has changed for ever our relationship with nature. Far from being a threat, it is now something to be pitied and protected. There are also changes in the way we view ourselves. As we take a trip to Florence to see some Titians or run water to brush our teeth, we're being asked to reconceeve of ourselves as unthinking killers.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton gives a philosopher's take on our ecological dilemmas.Alain de Botton gives a philosopher's take on our ecological dilemmas. He argues that fear of environmental destruction has changed for ever our relationship with nature. Far from being a threat, it is now something to be pitied and protected. There are also changes in the way we view ourselves. As we take a trip to Florence to see some Titians or run water to brush our teeth, we're being asked to reconceeve of ourselves as unthinking killers.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000592http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110121-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xj18gcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00xj18g'News' and concentrationAlain de Botton argues that in our mad desire to keep up with what's new, we have lost our ability to concentrate. We are made to feel, he says, that "at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties". How was it, he wonders, that for Christians, there has been no news of "world-altering significance to their faith" since 30 AD? He suggests that a period of fasting from our obsession with "news" may be what's needed.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton on our inability to concentrate.Alain de Botton argues that in our mad desire to keep up with what's new, we have lost our ability to concentrate. We are made to feel, he says, that "at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties". How was it, he wonders, that for Christians, there has been no news of "world-altering significance to their faith" since 30 AD? He suggests that a period of fasting from our obsession with "news" may be what's needed.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000597http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110114-2100.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xb105cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00xb105What humanities should teachAlain de Botton with his topical reflections. In the first of a new series, Alain argues that teachers of humanities in universities have only themselves to blame for many of the swingeing cuts they're facing. He says they've failed to explain to the government - and the public at large - why what they do really matters. And he says humanities teaching must find a new relevance in today's cash-strapped Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Alain de Botton with a controversial view of the teaching of humanities in universities.Alain de Botton with his topical reflections. In the first of a new series, Alain argues that teachers of humanities in universities have only themselves to blame for many of the swingeing cuts they're facing. He says they've failed to explain to the government - and the public at large - why what they do really matters. And he says humanities teaching must find a new relevance in today's cash-strapped Britain.
Producer: Adele Armstrong.Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000589http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20110107-2055.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x44swcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00x44swDear DiaryJoan Bakewell celebrates the art of diary writing by public figures and private individuals whose accounts of everyday life help shape our view of the past.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Joan Bakewell celebrates the art of diary writing.Joan Bakewell celebrates the art of diary writing by public figures and private individuals whose accounts of everyday life help shape our view of the past.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000577http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20101231-2055.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wrbt4cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00wrbt4A Time for EmpathyJoan Bakewell contrasts our empathy for fictional characters on the stage and on screen with a reported growing lack of sympathy for real people in need. When the prevailing culture is one of self-regard and narcissism the quiet work of charities deserves all the more applause.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Joan Bakewell wonders how we recover true empathy in a culture of self-regard.Joan Bakewell contrasts our empathy for fictional characters on the stage and on screen with a reported growing lack of sympathy for real people in need. When the prevailing culture is one of self-regard and narcissism the quiet work of charities deserves all the more applause.
Producer: Sheila Cook.Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000582http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/pov/pov_20101217-2055.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlj74cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00wlj74Talking About Their GenerationClive James reflects on the human condition and the need for liberal democracy to spread to allow future generations to enjoy the fruits of progress.Clive James reflects on the human condition and the need for liberal democracy to spread.Clive James reflects on the human condition and the need for liberal democracy to spread to allow future generations to enjoy the fruits of progress.Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000620http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/povcj/povcj_20091225-2050.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pd6n4cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00pd6n4Clive James: Option SwampClive James vents his frustration at automated customer systems and finds them a poor substitute for dealing with real people.Clive James vents his frustration at automated customer systems.Clive James vents his frustration at automated customer systems and finds them a poor substitute for dealing with real people.Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000615http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/povcj/povcj_20091218-2050.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p99nbcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00p99nbHermie's GhostA weekly reflection on a topical issue. Clive James reflects on the media coverage of man-made global warming and the need for minds to be open.Clive James reflects on the media coverage of man-made global warming.A weekly reflection on a topical issue. Clive James reflects on the media coverage of man-made global warming and the need for minds to be open.Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000590http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/povcj/povcj_20091211-2050.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p6vlncleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00p6vlnImpactClive James reflects that in a democracy we must never be complacent about any government initiative and warns of the dangers that a new plan for calculating funding for universities may pose to academic freedom.Clive James warns of the dangers of a new plan for calculating funding for universities.Clive James reflects that in a democracy we must never be complacent about any government initiative and warns of the dangers that a new plan for calculating funding for universities may pose to academic freedom.Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000606http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/povcj/povcj_20091204-2050.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p34ywcleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00p34ywSpirit of the GameA weekly reflection on a topical issue from Clive James. The spirit in which the game is played determines whether he likes or loathes the sport.Clive James reflects on the spirit in which sport is played.A weekly reflection on a topical issue from Clive James. The spirit in which the game is played determines whether he likes or loathes the sport.Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000578http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/povcj/povcj_20091127-2050.mp3http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nz944cleanBBC Radio 4/programmes/b00nz944